Halifax adding protected bike lanes on Morris Street and University Avenue
Morris Street will become one-way for motor vehicle traffic to make room for bike lane
Halifax is moving forward with plans to add protected bike lanes to University Avenue and Morris Street in the city's south end.
On Tuesday, city council passed a motion to install multiple new cycling paths in the city, including two-way lanes on University Avenue from Lemarchant Street to South Park Street, and on Morris Street from South Park Street to Lower Water Street, by a vote of 15-2.
District 15 Coun. Paul Russell and District 4 Coun. Trish Purdy were the only dissenting votes.
The two-way bike lane on University Avenue will be built along the street's centre median, while the Morris Street lane will be created by changing the street to one-way only for motor vehicle traffic.
Mark Nener, a city planner who prepared the report recommending these changes, said the approval brings the city one step closer to its goal of having an integrated cycling network.
"The new University Avenue and Morris Street infrastructure would be a key east-west connection in the south end of the peninsula," he said at council on Tuesday.
"It would connect to seven north-south cycling routes, three Dalhousie campuses, the IWK and QEII hospitals, the waterfront and the downtown."
Three additional shared bike paths near Dalhousie University's main campus that will lead to the Halifax Urban Greenway on Beaufort Street were also approved Tuesday.
They will be located on Seymour Street, Carteret Street, and Oakland Road.
A small two-way protected bike lane on South Street that will connect Seymour Street to Carteret Street will also be built.
The Morris Street lane is estimated to cost $5.1 million, while the University Avenue lane has an estimated cost of $8.6 million. The lanes leading to the Halifax Urban Greenway are expected to cost $1.2 million.
These estimates come with a cost contingency of 35 per cent, said Nener.
The project will now move forward to a detailed design phase ahead of tendering and construction.
The lanes are expected to be ready by 2028.
The city's full report is available here.
MORE TOP STORIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
