Macdonald Bridge bicycle ‘flyover’ ramp project inching forward

A municipal bikeway project in the Halifax region involving the Macdonald Bridge is moving forward, albeit not too quickly.

In the summer of 2017, Halifax council voted 15-1 for a multimillion-dollar cycling infrastructure plan affecting both sides of the bridge. The $7.3-million, multiyear upgrade includes a “flyover” – a cycling ramp on the Halifax side – that will connect to Gottingen and North streets.

Municipal staff said in 2018 construction of the ramp probably wouldn’t start until 2020. It didn’t.

Though construction has been delayed, city hall is now seeking external arborist services for the “redesign of transportation infrastructure and greenspace” at the Halifax-side approaches to the bridge.

The municipality’s Request for Quotation has references to cycling infrastructure and Halifax Transit. A municipal spokesperson said Thursday the tender call is linked to “design work for the bicycle flyover and related intersection work on the Halifax side” of the span.

Maggie-Jane Spray said “the targeted timeline for construction of the Halifax side is scheduled to begin in 2022 or 2023, depending on the final design.”

The work has been approved by regional council as part of a municipal bikeway network blueprint, she said via email.

According to a tender document, a number of trees would be impacted by the new cycling infrastructure. “An overarching objective of this (arborist services) work is to identify opportunities to protect urban canopy and opportunities to increase urban canopy through this project,” it says.

“Ideally this is in the project area, but potentially also in neighbouring areas where improvements can happen.”

The deadline for bids was April 27.

In 2019, HalifaxToday.ca reported an email obtained by NEWS 95.7 showed Halifax Regional Municipality’s chief administrative officer said construction costs hooked to the bridge bikeway project would be placed in the municipality’s future capital
projects’ plans.

Critics of the cycling infrastructure undertaking have said it’s too rich for the city’s blood. Advocates say it’s long overdue.

The Macdonald Bridge’s bicycle lane was part of a $55.3-million refurbishment, which was completed in 1999. Prior to that year, cyclists had to walk their bikes next to the bridge deck, on a single sidewalk shared with pedestrians.

Bicycle users have said the cycling lane’s Barrington Street entry and exit point, requiring riding uphill or downhill, has been a problem. The planned flyover project would still give users the option of using Barrington.

Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth

DISCLOSURE: This reporter wrote a letter to the editor at The Chronicle Herald, published in 2016, about safe cycling on the Macdonald Bridge. It was later posted without his knowledge on the Halifax Cycling Coalition’s website.