Barriers removed from Dartmouth Cove trail, company says

The company behind a proposed infilling project at Dartmouth Cove says it has removed barriers it had installed on Wednesday along a popular walking trail.

In a news release, Atlantic Road Construction and Paving Ltd., the firm behind the project, said the barriers came down Friday morning. 

The company said the project team and Halifax Regional Municipality officials will be coming out next week "to map out a path forward to minimize disruption to the public as construction begins on the privately owned site which includes a section of the Dartmouth Harbourwalk Trail."

On Wednesday, people who use the walking trail protested the blockades. Police were called to the site at least twice.

Build Nova Scotia, a provincial Crown corporation, told CBC News on Wednesday, that the provincial government ordered Atlantic Road Construction to remove all fencing, concrete blocks and other barriers that were obstructing access to the path.

The company did not have permission to put up barriers, which Build Nova Scotia said were on provincial land. The deadline to remove the barriers was noon Friday.

Bruce Wood, the chief financial officer of Atlantic Road Construction, said in a statement on Friday that the company is pleased to work with the municipality to outline its vision and finalize approvals "that have been underway for some time."

The project at Dartmouth Cove would involve dumping 100,000 cubic metres of rock, such as pyritic slate, from construction sites around Halifax.

In June, Transport Canada began the process to rescind its approval for the Dartmouth Cove infill project. The company suggested in July that political interference was at play in the decision to reverse the approval.

WATCH | Trail users object to blockade at Dartmouth Cove:

Tensions rise over proposed Dartmouth Cove infilling

3 months ago

Duration 3:22

A company looking to dump pyritic slate from new construction sites into the waters of Halifax harbour attempted to block the trail at Dartmouth Cove on Wednesday. Police were called to the scene twice as tensions escalated when people protested what was happening. Paul Palmeter has the story.