houston to halifax council: reverse morris street bike lane decision or have it overridden
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vehicles pass down morris street in between hollis and lower water street on wednesday.
ryan taplin
/
the chronicle herald
nova scotia’s premier seems intent on swaying outside of his own lane regarding halifax traffic issues.
“if hrm council proceeds to make morris a one-way street, the provincial government will be forced to act,” premier tim houston wrote in an open letter directed to halifax mayor andy fillmore, halifax regional council and cao cathie o’toole.
in the letter dated wednesday, houston wrote he has great concern regarding halifax council’s plans to turn morris street in the south end of the city into a one-way street.
“eliminating one lane to add bike lanes will contribute to traffic congestion, create unnecessary public safety risks and potentially jeopardize port activity,” he wrote.
the premier referenced a letter from emergency medical care (emc) that voiced concerns about the effect changing morris street traffic could have on providing emergency services in the area.
houston wrote that the halifax port authority and psa halifax, which operates two massive shipping terminals in halifax, both raised concerns about how changing the street could interfere with port activity.
“simply put, it is irresponsible to prioritize bike lanes over a key economic driver for the province, which is exactly what the port is,” he said.
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“to say that i find it disappointing that public safety and economic impact concerns have been dismissed with a simple shrug of the shoulders would be a serious understatement.”
a late-night debate last week saw regional councillors vote 13-4 to go with the original design for a bikeway that would turn the busy downtown street into a one-way road with a two-direction bikeway despite a request by mayor andy fillmore for staff to dig deeper into alternative proposals that would keep two-way traffic.
houston reminded the mayor and council in his letter that the government had passed bill 24 in the spring session of the legislature. the recently proclaimed bill provides the provincial government with sweeping powers over transportation and transit decisions that include doing anything necessary to ensure the smooth movement of people and goods.
those powers would include the power of the public works minister to order a municipality to build or remove infrastructure.
“if hrm council proceeds to make morris a one-way street, the provincial government will be forced to act,” houston wrote in his letter, a reference to using the bill 24 provision.
“i remain hopeful that common sense will prevail and council will reverse this decision,” he said. “please advise by wednesday, aug. 6, if council is prepared to do this.”
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council is scheduled to meet aug. 5.
speaking at a news conference in enfield on thursday morning, public works minister fred tilley said he supported the premier’s letter 100 per cent.
“the whole goal of our work is to reduce traffic and reduce congestion and we don’t want to do things to increase congestion in an already congested area,” tilley said.
claudia chender, the opposition and ndp leader, said municipal governments don’t need the premier’s interference.
“the mayor, council and residents of halifax have a process for dealing with local issues — it’s called municipal government,” chender said.
“for decades our province’s cities and towns have listened to residents and made decisions based on what was best for their communities. if residents are concerned about traffic congestion, the lack of safe bike lanes or any number of other issues, they can make their voices heard through their city councillor. there is no need for tim houston to interfere in that.”
chender said if the premier is interested in playing his part to address transit challenges, he could begin by releasing the recommendations from the joint regional transportation agency (jrta) and put in place a transit plan that makes commuting easier and more affordable.
the design for a bikeway on morris street, which halifax regional council voted in favour of it being converted into a one-way street.
halifax regional municipality
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“there are many issues that require the premier’s attention: housing people can afford, health care for families across the province, a real plan to support our local businesses and traditional industries,” chender said.
“instead of constantly trying to consolidate power, the premier should stay in his lane.”
tilley said thursday that the government is working on the jrta report and it will be released very soon.
last thursday, houston told reporters that “everyone in hrm, anyone who travels to hrm is concerned about traffic” and that “the only people who don’t seem to be concerned about traffic in hrm are the hrm council.”
houston said, “there is a serious, serious disconnect right now between serving the citizens of halifax and the decisions that council is making.”
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