Halifax bike network expected to be almost complete in 2028, tens of millions over budget

Halifax's bicycle network should be almost done in three years, a milestone that advocates and some councillors say is key — even with costs rising to tens of millions more than originally planned.

Municipal staff told the city's transportation committee on Thursday that the AAA (all ages and abilities) bicycle network in the regional centre will be done, except for one section, by 2028.

Originally planned to finish 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 quiet side streets.

"There are still challenges in the way, but we are pulling out all the stops to try and get this done," said Anne Sherwood, Halifax's director of design and construction.

A staff report said that challenges over the years have included buying land and moving bus stops, parking spots or utilities to make room for the new infrastructure.

"The timelines are kind of a relief because I was worried that we were going to be missing the revised deadline," said Coun. Sam Austin.

The section to Africville Road will be the only segment left to complete after 2028 because of competing projects in the area, like the Windsor Street Exchange redesign.

The 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 (HRM) to pay across the next few years.

Robyn Homans with HRM's project management team said they have applied for more federal funding and will keep exploring options. She said rising costs are due to inflation and labour market issues, with the public works department seeing all prices jump about 25 per cent from 2023 to 2024.

Coun. Trish Purdy said this was a "sad report" to see, because the project does not represent the needs of the majority of Halifax residents. Purdy said she'd rather see the money go to sidewalks or transit.

"Bike lanes are good and nice to have, but we have so many competing priorities," Purdy said.

Coun. Shawn Cleary said it's important to put the project in context with the rest of HRM's budget. Halifax spends more than $50 million each year on repaving streets, with this year's capital budget totalling $314 million.

New data from Statistics Canada shows 12.3 per cent of Halifax residents walked or biked to work in 2024, far above the national average of six per cent.

HRM data also counted a daily average of 342 bike trips across the Macdonald Bridge alone in 2024.

Anika Riopel, senior sustainable transportation co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre, said a complete network is much safer than the city's current patchwork situation, and more people will start biking once it's finished.

"You wouldn't build half a bridge and then be like, 'Well, no one's driving on the bridge,'" Riopel said Thursday.

Riopel said getting more people biking will help reduce congestion, which is worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic, as the population has grown.

In a letter submitted to the committee Thursday, the Halifax Cycling Coalition said the biggest risk is not rising costs, but the safety of cyclists.

There were 87 bike collisions last year in Halifax, with three reported as of Feb. 1, 2025.

"There's a sense of urgency here that this isn't just a feel-good thing, that this is infrastructure that is life-saving," Riopel said.

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.