Latest news with #activeTransportation
CTV News
11-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Bikes lanes coming to Station Street in Saint John
A commonly travelled Saint John street is about to undergo a 'road diet.' The city has announced plans for Station Street and City Road – stretching from Smythe Street to just east of the Stanley Street pedestrian bridge – to be reduced from a four-lane roadway to three to accommodate new bikes lanes. The three lanes of traffic will consist of two through lanes going either way, and a centre turning lane. Designated bike lanes will be present on either side of the road along the curb. 'Combined with the existing sidewalks, this redesign will create a key active transportation corridor in line with MoveSJ , Saint John's Transportation Plan,' the city said in a press release. 'This corridor is part of Saint John's section of the Trans Canada Trail , linking Harbour Passage and the Stanley Street pedestrian bridge, and further connecting the South Central Peninsula to Rockwood Park.' Saint John Bike Lanes A commonly travelled Saint John street is about to undergo a 'road diet.' (Source: City of Saint John) City studies by the Federal Highway Administration show road diets can reduces crashes anywhere from 19 to 47 per cent. Saint John has already undergone 'road diets' on a number of streets, including Metcalf and Somerset Streets, as well as Milledgeville and University Avenue. The city is committed to make 20 per cent of trips within its limits possible by using sustainable transportation methods as part of its Strategic Plan . No timeline was given for when the road transformation will begin. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Halifax Cycling Coalition to hold rally against motion to stop bike lane construction
The Halifax Cycling Coalition is holding a rally to voice its opposition to Mayor Andy Fillmore's motion that, if passed, would immediately halt the construction of new bike lanes in the municipality. The rally will be held at City Hall at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The motion calls for a pause on awarding any contracts for new bike lane designs or construction capital projects. The pause would continue until a staff report assessing the 'feasibility of alternative network solutions' that could reach active transportation goals while maintaining or improving the flow of traffic is complete. 'This motion is not about stopping progress,' said Fillmore in an open letter. 'It's about sequencing progress properly. Right now, we're seeing road space reduced before alternatives like reliable transit or safe, connected bike routes are in place.' The Halifax Cycling Coalition called Fillmore's motion 'politically motivated, not good transportation policy' in its post about the upcoming rally. 'Halifax enjoys the second highest rate of people cycling and walking of all Canadian cities,' the post reads. 'Do we want to jeopardize that? 'Cycling and walking make for a healthier population, reducing pressure on the healthcare system. At the same time we reduce greenhouse gases, particulate emissions, noise, and road violence.' Council will vote on the motion at their meeting on Tuesday. More to come… Halifax Bike Lane A green bike lane marker is pictured in Halifax, N.S. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
07-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Halifax mayor defends motion to temporarily pause new bike lane infrastructure
Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore is defending a motion he intends to put forward next week at regional council to temporarily pause awarding new design and construction contracts for bike lanes. In his memo to colleagues, which was posted to Reddit on Friday, Fillmore said the move is in response to frustration among residents and business owners over "worsening traffic congestion" and the escalating project costs for the AAA (all ages and abilities) bicycle network. Fillmore stated the municipality is also failing to deliver a "balanced and efficient mobility system" as per its integrated mobility plan. Fillmore told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Halifax on Friday that his goal is to build cycling infrastructure and active transportation infrastructure "in the right way, in a way that doesn't create the very unfortunate backlash that is very real in our city right now." The mayor said he'd like to create cycling infrastructure in Halifax that doesn't sacrifice the needs of others who use the roads, like bus drivers, people who ride the bus, delivery and commercial vehicle drivers, people who have to drive in a car because they're not on a bus route, and those who aren't able to ride bikes. "We have to have a very balanced approach and I just push back on any commentary that we're facing some sort of a binary choice," Fillmore told Mainstreet. "This is very much a pause so that we can all move forward together in a mindful way that reflects the changing reality we have in our growing and busy city." Only applies to tenders not yet awarded Fillmore said the municipal bicycle network was only meant to cost $25 million. He said $16 million has already been spent, but that the budget for the project now is $93 million. "That leaves $77 million yet to be spent. Only $8 million will come from provincial and federal sources, and that leaves an unexpected $69 million to be funded through the municipal tax rate," Fillmore said. Fillmore said construction being done right now will be finished. Tenders identified in the capital budget for the next four years — but not yet awarded — would be put on hold. "This gives us an opportunity to have staff come back to us with a list of all those projects that are in that capital budget with a red light or a green light," he said, adding projects that threaten to "worsen congestion" will be paused. "All that red light means is, OK, we're just going to take a redesign here," Fillmore continued. "I expect a great percentage of the project on that list will get a green light and may only have a holdup of a month or two." 'Misguided proposal' David Trueman, the chair of the Halifax Cycling Coalition, called Fillmore's recommendation a "misguided proposal." He's calling on people to write to their regional councillor and urge them to vote against it. "We just got the cycling infrastructure projects back on track with the report to council from staff where they took the plan that was supposed to be delivered by the end of 2024 and they presented a detailed plan to get to it by 2028," Trueman said. "If we have a temporary pause, this is going to be delayed by years. We have a lot of staff and consultants tied up in designing these infrastructure protects, which take years through the pipeline. If you stop the pipeline, the flow is cut off and there can be untold delays and escalating costs." Trueman said the roads are already built and cycling is catching up. He said the upkeep cost on cycling infrastructure is a tiny fraction of what it would be for road costs. Divisive issue "These projects include all the costs of revamping a given street, and often there are other aspects of the road improvement ... [that] reduce the impact on car traffic," he said, citing a flyover bicycle bridge planned for the Macdonald Bridge site. "If we weren't worried about cars, we could do a much less expensive solution there. It's our propensity to avoid any impact to cars that raises the cost of cycling." Trueman said he thinks Fillmore's proposal is politically motivated. "Halifax has the second highest rate of active transportation of any city in Canada. Surely we don't want to throw that away," he said. "But what Andy Fillmore is keying in on is that cycling is a divisive issue. There's maybe 30 per cent of the population that has their doubts or their objections to it and he wants to create a wedge issue."
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Community group takes over Mayfair Theatre marquee to promote Bank Street bus lane pitch
The marquee at the Mayfair Theatre included a message about supporting bus lanes on Bank Street by the community group Strong Towns Ottawa. May 29, 2025. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa) The marquee at the Mayfair Theatre on Bank Street was not showing a movie Thursday morning, but instead a message about bus lanes. A local community group is raising awareness about their demand for dedicated bus lanes on the busy street through a campaign that includes the sign on the marquee and ads that play before movies at the local cinema. Strong Towns Ottawa says none of the options the City of Ottawa is considering for the future of Bank Street are adequate. The city is exploring ways to improve transit and active transportation on a busy corridor of Bank between the Rideau Canal and Highway 417 but says full time bus-only lanes and removing all on-street vehicle parking have been eliminated as options. Instead, the city is proposing having dedicated bus lanes only during peak traffic periods in the morning and afternoon. 'A simple change could make for a much better Bank Street: instead of only having bus lanes for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, let's have them 24/7! The on-street parking should be moved to the plethora of options available surrounding Bank Street,' a statement on Strong Towns Ottawa's website says. Derrick Simpson, a volunteer with Strong Towns Ottawa, who also serves as the transportation board chair at the Centretown Community Association, says it's been one year since the City of Ottawa spoke to the community about the Bank Street plan. 'We were really excited by that, and we haven't heard anything since,' Simpson told CTV News Ottawa. 'We figured this was a good way to get some attention and make sure that people are still thinking about this.' The city held a public open house on its plans for Bank Street in June 2024. A second public open house is planned for June 2025, according to the city's website, but the exact date and details have not yet been announced. The plan is slated to go before the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee and Council in September. Simpson said he was disappointed by the city's rejection of 24/7 bus lanes. 'We especially think that for event days, it's very important. There's only about 1,000 parking spaces in Lansdowne and the Redblacks' stadium seats around 20,000. We need other ways for people to get there and we believe the bus is the best option,' he said. 'We know OC Transpo has been struggling a lot with reliability and we think this would help get people to work faster, get people home faster, help them get to school on time, so we really think this is about reliability. It's making sure the bus shows up on time and gets you where you need to be on time.' Two routes serve Bank Street, the 6 and the 7. The 6 has frequently dealt with cancelled trips, according to statistics provided to the transit committee. On-street parking issue Strong Towns Ottawa says on-street parking is one of the main things contributing to delays on Bank Street. 'It takes up 2 full lanes, 6.6m of the 12.6m (over 50%), road. This space could much better serve those moving through, as well as those staying in the area,' the group says on its website. Simpson said this affects buses as well. 'We've had buses stuck in traffic, we've had buses waiting behind parked cars, and we think this is a great way to make sure people can arrive on time,' he said. According to data from the City of Ottawa, parking on Bank Street accounts for seven per cent of the total supply in the area. There are 143 spaces on the street out of a total supply of 2,000 spaces, including parking garages. There are 971 parking spaces at Lansdowne and another 139 in the Second Avenue garage. Parking utilization is higher in the evenings and on weekends. According to a City of Ottawa survey, nearly a third of respondents (32 per cent) said bus lanes were the most important feature for a redesign of Bank Street, while 13 per cent cited on-street parking as their most important feature. Forty-five per cent of respondents who drive to Bank Street said they'd be willing to walk between five and 10 minutes after parking to reach a destination, and 15 per cent said they'd be fine with a longer walk. Simpson says Strong Towns Ottawa volunteers will be out near the entrance to the Second Avenue parking garage between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday to meet with community members and raise awareness about the issue. The ads at the Mayfair Theatre will run until June 15. 'The community response so far has been really, really good,' said Simpson. 'We raised the funds for this in less than two hours, so we were blown away by the community response.' Details on the Bank Street Active Transportation and Transit Priority Feasibility Study can be found on Engage Ottawa.
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
City of Charlottetown shares plan to make Grafton Street safer and more efficient
Social Sharing Charlottetown residents are getting a first look at the city's plan to make Grafton Street safer and more efficient, which is in line with its 10-year active transportation plan. The city held an open house on Wednesday to present concept designs for the Grafton Street Master Plan. This key corridor connecting the Hillsborough Bridge to the downtown core will see improvements focused on the stretch between Edward Street and West Street. Richard MacEwen, director of community services for the city, said the plan was designed to make the street safer for everyone — pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike. "Safety is the number one priority when we're looking at these projects," MacEwen told CBC News. "We want to improve the safety access throughout the city. We want people to feel comfortable, on their bikes, when they're walking." Residents can provide feedback on the city's website. The city is gathering community and stakeholder feedback before finalizing the plan, which will then be presented to city council for approval. Improving traffic flow, accessibility At the open house, residents were shown several concept designs, including proposals to improve safety and traffic flow at places like the intersection of Pownal Street and Edward Street. The city says vehicle volumes at these spots suggest traffic signals are warranted. The plan also recommends accessibility improvements. These include pedestrian ramps and curb extensions, which reduce crossing distances and make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians, and vice versa. Currently, many intersections along Grafton Street lack things like textured ground surfaces that help visually impaired people navigate safely. In cases where tactile warning surface indicators do exist, they often aren't configured in a standardized way, the plan notes. Transit changes Changes to the bus stops by the Confederation Centre could also be coming. Two options are under consideration. One is to introduce three parallel bus layby stops on the eastbound side and one on the westbound side of Grafton Street. The other is to build three angled layby stops eastbound and one parallel stop westbound. Both options include formalized pedestrian landing pads for passengers to board and exit. These changes would affect more than a dozen parking spaces across the street from the Holman Grand Hotel and Confederation Court Mall, though. "Again, it's thinking about public safety, and where it's easy for people to get on and off a bus safely," MacEwen said. Charlottetown resident David Daughton said he supports these proposals. "That has some merit, in terms of not having people behind buses with flashing lights on like we have now. And half the people know they're allowed to pass a slow-moving vehicle. The other people are sitting there waiting because they don't know what's going on," Daughton said. "You can't have buses blocking the road all the time, every time they want to pick up people." Still, Daughton raised a concern about the visibility of pedestrian crossings along Grafton Street due to faded road paint. "If you and I go down to… downtown now, at least 50 per cent of the crossings will be invisible because there is no white stripe left on the crossing, which is dangerous," he said. Daughton added that other countries have found solutions for permanent, year-round crossing markers, and he hopes Charlottetown can do the same.
