What if we told you that you can bike from downtown Halifax to the beach? Really. Even if you haven’t biked in years and don’t remember the hand signals. It’ll be a bit sweaty and a bit stressful and you’ll curse at the lack of signage but you can do it—and it’ll be worth it. […]
Cycling
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Coast’s first TikTok: Regional council votes to look at looking at changes for pedestrians and cyclists during COVID-19
@tikcoast Our first Tik Tok: here’s what happened at regional council today ##halifax ##hrm ##covid ##cycling ##politics ##newspaper ##news ##novascotia ##fyp ##autotune ♬ original sound – tikcoast There was a nothing-but-pleasantries discussion about pedestrians, cycling and what to do about tiny sidewalks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please enjoy our first ever TikTok to learn what […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
New bike lanes coming to Hollis Street
Halifax is finally getting a protected bike lane on Hollis Street. The transportation standing committee is recommending that Halifax Regional Council approve adding 2.8km of bike lanes to multiple streets downtown–the first being Hollis. Cycling commuters will be able to spin freely from the Cogswell Interchange all the way down to where Hollis Street wraps […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The parking fight
Robin Stewart doesn’t want to raise rents on his north-end properties, but he says city hall is leaving him little choice if it takes away street parking. The “Haliflats” landlord has been one of the loudest critics of HRM’s proposal to create a new north-end bikeway, which will have the potential side effect of reducing […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s bike network dream in jeopardy
Despite the best-laid plans of council, Halifax’s ambitious hope for a bike network throughout the urban core won’t be possible by 2020. In fact, based on city hall’s current budget it might not meet the original deadline of 2022 at all. “Obviously, we won’t be able to build this out to 2022 with the draft […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City hall to pay for side guards on garbage trucks
Halifax will spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars installing side guards on trucks owned and operated by private businesses. Regional council voted on Tuesday to cover the costs for the life-saving devices on the 83 solid-waste collection trucks belonging to GFL Environmental and REgroup, respectively. The total cost to HRM works out to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Injured cyclist wants stronger protection for all road users
“The message that I got was I should be content that I wasn’t killed,” says Stewart Rand. The Haligonian was hit by a car on the morning of September 30 while riding his bike on the Bedford Highway near Nelsons Landing Boulevard. He says he was thrown into the air by a vehicle that didn’t […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
25 for 25: episode 2007
City councillor Lindell Smith was a 16-year-old aspiring audio technician the first time that he was mentioned in The Coast, as part of Stephen Kimber’s 2007 cover story, “Inside the Square.” Smith joins us to talk about the stigma surrounding Uniacke Square, his political goals and how the north end has changed over the past […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
New rules needed for the roads
It’s a long overdue revamp for how Nova Scotians safely use our roads. The province has put out an open call for public input on a new Traffic Safety Act to replace the century-old Motor Vehicle Act. The MVA was created in 1907 when the only vehicles on the roads were Oldsmobiles and Ford Model […]
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Saying goodbye to a changing city
Halifax has many rites of passage. One of them is to move to Toronto for a stint that may last forever. Five years ago, we added another rite of passage: Penning a Dear John letter about how the city has let us down and pushed us to the door. Today, the city is in the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Parking up the wrong street
Cyclists and pedestrians are about to have easier access to some of the city’s busiest shopping districts. Halifax Regional Council approved motions this week to install a protected bike lane on South Park Street and a dedicated bus lane on Gottingen Street, over the protests of small business owners worried about parking. On Tuesday, council […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Wheels in motion at the Halifax Cycling Coalition
Over the last decade, the Halifax Cycling Coalition has helped shape this city’s streets. The citizen advocacy group has fought—quite literally block-by-block—for better, safer cycling infrastructure in HRM. Its biggest win came just recently, with the approval of the Integrated Mobility Plan and designs for a connected bike lane grid across Halifax and Dartmouth by […]