When I opened Instagram on Monday night and saw the screenshot saying that a person cycling had been killed in Halifax, I felt deeply sad, but I was also angry. Many people I know and care about have been advocating for safe cycling infrastructure for years. And still, people are dying on our streets.
The Halifax Cycling Coalition was registered as a non-profit society almost two decades ago in 2008 after a person cycling was killed on Barrington Street in Downtown Halifax. Since then, they’ve been advocating, providing educational opportunities, and offering community building events to facilitate safer cycling in the city.
Through the years, many other advocates have pushed for better protections for active transportation on our streets, including organizations like Walk n’ Roll Halifax, the Ecology Action Centre, Cycling Nova Scotia, and more.
Because of this advocacy, our city has started building dedicated and protected places to cycle. The Integrated Mobility Plan, approved by the Halifax Regional Municipality in 2017, was a huge win for advocates because it acknowledged that we need to plan for many modes of transportation, not just motor vehicles. This plan also included a commitment to build a network of cycling routes that would be safe and accessible for people of all ages and people with disabilities (a higher standard than simply painted lines on the road).
While some of those planned cycling routes have been built, it’s taken years longer than originally planned, and we still don’t have the connected network available to travel throughout Halifax safely by bike. Our politicians haven’t done enough to ensure that cycling deaths don’t occur on our streets.
Ultimately, everyone just wants to get where they need to go on a daily basis safely. We all need to go to work, school, a doctor’s appointment, or the grocery store. Why shouldn’t we be able to choose a means of getting there that’s joyful, affordable, and good for our wellbeing?
I started cycling when I was a student because I couldn’t afford a vehicle and the bus wasn’t always convenient for me. Cycling completely opened up the city to me, allowing me to access cheaper housing farther from campus, build exercise into my day without thinking about it, and get around faster with my busy schedule. I continue to cycle because it’s the most joyful way to travel and it is better for the environment compared to driving.
Dr. Meghan Winters from Simon Fraser University completed a study in 2016, finding that 58% of Halifax residents surveyed are “interested but concerned” about cycling. This means they would like to cycle but can’t because they don’t feel safe cycling in Halifax. That study shows that cycling infrastructure isn’t a niche issue for a fringe amount of people, it’s actually something that could benefit a majority of people in our city.
We know what prevents deaths of people cycling, it’s the same thing that will shift people from “interested but concerned” to choose cycling: high-quality cycling infrastructure like protected bike lanes. The only thing standing in the way of us having that is political will at the municipal level, and the ability to access funding support from other levels of government to build it.
The mayor of Halifax has spoken out in recent months about halting new bike lane projects and downgrading the quality of planned cycling infrastructure. The result of stalling and providing mediocre protections for people cycling? It’s death. Municipal politicians have a responsibility to provide safe ways to get around for all road users, including people cycling. It’s high time we take that seriously.
Meghan Doucette has been cycling as her main mode of transportation for ten years, starting in Halifax and now on the South Shore. She is a member of the Halifax Cycling Coalition, and their former Executive Director.
