Halifax mayor's move to pause bike lane construction defeated

Halifax will continue to move ahead with its bike network after councillors voted 12-5 to defeat a motion by the mayor asking to temporarily pause awarding new design and construction contracts for bike lanes.

Mayor Andy Fillmore made the motion at regional council on Tuesday afternoon. During the meeting, Fillmore said he was concerned that the costs of the AAA (all ages and abilities) bicycle network were escalating and it was contributing to Halifax's increased traffic congestion.

"Halifax now has the third-worst congestion in Canada and the fifth-worst congestion in North America," Fillmore said. "People here are spending 83 hours a year stuck in traffic. That's the equivalent of 12 working days behind the wheel in gridlock."

The pause would have lasted until staff came back with a report providing the list of bike lane projects over the next four years that could result in reduced vehicle traffic capacity and increased congestion. The mayor also asked that the report assess the feasibility of alternative network options that could achieve active transportation goals while "sustaining or improving current traffic flow."

'This is foolish'

Fillmore has not offered any evidence or details about how the current or future network segments increase traffic congestion, just that it's "empirical observation."

He cited downtown streets like Rainnie Drive and Lower Water Street that are now one-way since the addition of bike lanes.

"It's just a fact that there's space for fewer vehicles on those roads," Fillmore said.

Coun. Sam Austin said he was disappointed in Fillmore's motion and said bike lanes do not cause traffic congestion. He said delaying the work on bike lanes would worsen traffic.

"It's the people of this city who want to move around sustainably, who we've been left hanging by having this project run years behind schedule, and now we're proposing to add yet more time to that," Austin said.

"This isn't good governing, this is foolish."

Coun. Becky Kent agreed, adding any talk about pausing bike lanes should have happened when the budget was being discussed.

'It's not good for stability'

Coun. Laura White said the motion wasn't in line with the municipality's strategic plans.

"Think of people that bid on our contracts, if they think that at any time that we're going to change direction. It's not good for stability, for business," White said.

Coun. Trish Purdy said there didn't seem to be an accurate understanding of Fillmore's motion.

"The vast majority of bike lane projects will move forward unhindered. This is looking at, from what the mayor has said, the red light projects, the ones that are going to negatively impact our traffic congestion," Purdy said.

'It's going to take a long time'

Coun. Billy Gillis said he would support Fillmore's motion. 

"Cycling is a great way to commute. The more cars we get off the road, the better, 100 per cent. But it's not for everyone. And we live in the here and now," Gillis said.

"It's going to take a long time to get enough people cycling to make an impact on relieving congestion."

Fillmore's alternative motion

After his first motion was defeated, Fillmore had council vote on a second recommending a report on alternatives for Morris Street that would allow two-way traffic to be maintained. That motion passed and council will consider that report at its July 8 meeting.

Fillmore said Morris Street "will now benefit from a pause and rethink to make sure we're not making congestion worse."

Hundreds of people, many on bikes, came to Grand Parade before the council meeting to protest Fillmore's motion. A few residents wearing bike helmets sat in the public gallery to listen to the council debate in the afternoon.

The bicycle network's original expected cost of about $25 million has more than tripled, now reaching about $93 million. The provincial and federal governments have contributed about $20.8 million, leaving about $66 million for the Halifax Regional Municipality to pay over the next few years.

The Halifax Cycling Coalition has said it believed Fillmore's motion was not rooted in facts, because the most congested choke points for Halifax — including the Armdale roundabout, the Windsor Street exchange and North Street — do not have bike lanes.

Rising costs, inflation

Originally planned to be completed in 2022, about 60 per cent of the 53 kilometres of network has been done so far with temporary or permanent measures. These include protected lanes, multi-use paths or painted signals on side streets.

Staff have said the network should be finished — with the exception of one section — by 2028.

Municipal staff have said costs have risen because of inflation and labour market issues, but also because the network sections have become more complicated and include improvements for the whole street.

For example, the upcoming Brunswick Street project for this year would install a two-way bike lane and would also include a new plaza at the foot of Citadel Hill, sidewalk changes, and a redesign of the Sackville Street intersection to improve car traffic.

Halifax spends more than $50 million each year to repave streets, with this year's capital budget totalling $314 million.

The municipality's 2024 citizen survey showed most respondents preferred to maintain or increase the service levels for bike lanes (65 per cent), with 35 per cent saying it should be decreased.

Another Halifax resident survey showed 48 per cent of respondents said that safer, more comfortable and more connected infrastructure is the No. 1 thing that would encourage them to cycle more often.

Construction on the network began in 2017, as part of Halifax's integrated mobility plan. Halifax aims to have at least 30 per cent of trips made by walking, biking or taking transit by 2031.