Our eighteenth council meeting of 2026 was held on Tuesday, 27 October.
The full meeting agenda, reports and video recording are linked below.
Halifax Regional Council – October 27, 2026
15.1.1 Alternatives for 2028/29 and 2029/30 AAA Bicycle Network Capital Projects
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to:
1. initiate functional planning for the potential alternatives to the All Ages and Abilities (AAA) bikeway network capital projects as described in the Discussion section of the staff report dated October 20, 2026 (Table 2) and, subject to Regional Council’s approval of the associated costs in the 2027/28 capital budget, return to Regional Council with a recommended approach to implementation of these alternatives;
2. subject to the funding requirements set forth in the Financial Implications section of the staff report dated October 20, 2026, commence the design of the modified University Avenue bikeway, as set forth in the Discussion section of the staff report dated October 20, 2026, and engage stakeholders to develop cost sharing and maintenance agreements; and,
3. subject to Regional Council’s approval of the associated costs in the 2028/29 (phase 1) and 2029/30 (phase 2) capital budget, commence the procurement process and subsequent construction of the modified University Avenue bikeway.”
This motion was on the consent agenda (why is perplexing to me, as that is for non-controversial items), and pulled off by Councillor Cleary.
The background on why this motion is in front of council can be read here under item 18.1 (Fillmore):
and here under item 16.1 (Mancini):
19 & 24 June 2025 HRM Council Meetings: Regional Plan, Bike Lanes, Heavy Vehicles, Vehicle Noise
There are 8 minimum grid All Ages & Abilities (AAA aka safe) bikeway segments discussed in this report.
1. Quingate Place (Quinpool Road to St. Pat’s multi-use pathway)
2. Vernon Street (approach to Quinpool Road)
3. Shubie Canal Greenway to Lake Banook multi-use pathway
4. Wyse Rd/Thistle Street to Dartmouth Waterfront multi-use pathway (at Ochterloney Street)
5. Cogswell Street (Barrington Street to North Park Street)
6. Bell Road (Summer Street to South Park Street)
7. Woodside Ferry Terminal to Pleasant Street and Mount Hope Greenway
8. modified University Avenue bikeway
Normally, this sort of decision making is at the standing committee level, but because there are budget implications, and this was the last day that staff could get council direction on 2027/28 draft budget direction, this report was presented to council. Council discussed the reasons and implications for a referral to committees and then passed a motion to refer to Active Transportation Advisory Committee and Transportation Standing Committee. At committee, the public can participate and TSC will receive a presentation with more graphics from staff. Debating a complicated motion with 6 focused members of council rather than 17 is more appropriate and productive. As these routes are not planned for construction until 2028/29, there is no delay associated with the referral.
After 2 days of planning how to handle this motion at council with my colleagues and discussing the particulars with staff, I have thoughts on how I’d like to see all 8 segments proceed, before hearing more from community.
I will briefly share my thoughts on the three segments in D7.
a) Cogswell Street (Barrington Street to North Park Street) – we need the base case here.
A protected route along Brunswick to Nora Bernard is also needed in the future, as this is a good route to and from the bridge, but Nora Bernard is not a suitable alternative to Cogswell. Nora Bernard is steeper; there isn’t room to meet the AAA (safe standard) and the intersection to cross North Park Street to the Common or North Park Street southbound lane is very awkward. Cogswell connects the Brunswick Street segment with the existing Maynard, Creighton, Gottingen and North Park cycling routes.
b) Bell Road (Summer Street to South Park Street) – we need the base case here.
Bell Road from Trollope to the Willow Tree intersection is also part of our cycling network (though not the AAA minimum grid). It is unreasonable to detour along Sackville and Summer when trying to go in a straight line. The future of Sackville & Summer streets are up in the air with the Wanderers proposal (Item 13.3.1):
The Bell/Ahern intersection is currently unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists. There is a conflict with left and right turning drivers from Bell to Ahern and both streets are truck routes, so the current painted lines/flex posts/gutter riding aren’t cutting it. A protected route along Sackville from Brunswick to South Park (at least) is also needed in the future, as this connects two existing cycle paths, but not as a partial completion and detour.
c) “modified” University Avenue bikeway (2-way center median bikeway) – I’m ok with this as a compromise for where we are in the 7-year journey of this project.
This one is tough, as it is really a parking preservation and parkette project. The University Avenue medians deserve a major upgrade, because they are underused shaded gathering spaces for students, hospital employees and patients and residents in general. If a safe and inexpensive cycling route was the primary goal, we would reallocate the current the on-street parking spots (except for accessible spaces) and install tactical infrastructure. Voila.
There are five paragraphs in this report dedicated to this decision (plus Attachment C: University Avenue Bikeway and Streetscape Functional Plan). We do need to get the $625k in design costs into our 2026/27 Budget if we are going to proceed with the staff recommended pre-design. There is no indication of the total project cost, but the bikeway portion is $3.5M with large contingencies and a potentially unnecessary traffic signal for Summer St. Other costs will be road recapitalization, sidewalk renewal and streetscaping. Cost sharing opportunities exist with Halifax Water and “institutional partners” (Dal and NS Health and the IWK?)
Without comparing the previous to the October 2024 functional plan, I’m not sure exactly what has changed, but tree impacts have been reduced per page 2 of the report. It also does not fully connect to Morris Street, only to Cathedral Lane for now, as we wait to see what’s next for Morris Street:
Peninsula South Complete Streets | Engage Halifax
05 August 2025 HRM Council Meeting: Morris Street, Strategic Plan, Local Street Bikeways
I will compare the October 2024 and June 2026 functional plans before this report comes to committee.
I will also review the Traffic Safety Act before this meeting, as I thought I read that if a bike lane exists, it must be used by people on bikes. Many confident cyclists will not choose this meandering path rather than whizzing downhill from Robie to South Park as one does now. Will this still be legal?
The motion to refer to committees passed 15 – 2. I voted Yes.
15.1.6 Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency Resources
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to include, in the proposed 2027/28 Budget and Business Plan, the following increases to the Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency operating budget:
1. $167,000 for the HRFE Wildland Urban Interface program requirements as set out in the staff report dated October 21, 2026;
2. $381,000 for 20 new firefighters (20 FTEs);
3. $183,600 for two new Bunker Gear/Warehouse Technicians (2 FTEs);
4. a one-time funding increase of $125,000 to support mental health and resiliency training for all HRFE members;
5. $120,000 for Volunteer Honorarium & Incentives; and
6. $30,000 to accommodate the financial pressure of required training for staff in the Fire Prevention division,
for a total of $1,006,600 in increases for fiscal year 2027/2028.
We received an excellent presentation from Chief Rizzi et al. The 20 firefighters are required for aerial truck staffing which is relevant to high rise (4+ storeys in this case) buildings or (for example) a lumber mill. These positions will help urban, suburban and rural residents. Like Items 15.1.2, 15.1.3, 15.1.4, 15.2.5, 17.1 & 17.2, this item was also referred to Budget Committee.
That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to prepare a staff report to:
a) establish a coordinated public awareness campaign entitled “Trick or Streets,” to inform residents on how to apply for temporary street closure permits and strengthen roadway safety during Halloween
b) identify opportunities to streamline the temporary street closure permit process applications for 31 October by lowering the minimum support threshold and completing a jurisdictional scan
Mayor Fillmore accepted my friendly amendment in advance of the meeting for part b. A resident raised this issue with me last year, so this was the perfect time to see what we can do, encouraged by changes recently made it other North American cities.
This motion passed unianimously.