HRM one step closer to ‘reimagining Water St.’

The makeover of one of downtown Halifax’s most historic streets is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Water St. remains one of the Halifax Regional Municipality’s busiest streets, with nearly 5,000 vehicles travelling per day and a similar number of pedestrians during the summer.

According to Shape Your City Halifax, downtown Halifax is home to over 25,000 residents and 1,600 businesses. Home to the Halifax Busker Festival, about 50,000 tourists visit Water St. each year. 

The enhancement project is currently in its sixth of eight steps. Following the current public and stakeholder engagement phase, functional design options will be evaluated and finalized. A recommendation is scheduled to be provided to regional council by late spring. 

In an interview with CityNews, CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, Paul MacKinnon, explained the work is part of the municipality’s Integrated Mobility Plans, which include building connected bike lane routes through the downtown core, redesigning Cogswell St., and the major renovation of Spring Garden Rd.

“This is a bit of a combination of work that needed to happen, but also planning for the future and looking at what are the transportation and pedestrian needs for downtown [Halifax],” MacKinnon said, noting that city staff are currently seeking public feedback on two potential plans for Lower Water St. 

MacKinnon noted that one plan would see Water St. shift to a more transit-oriented area, while the other centres on opening up the street to pedestrians.

“We want to have people be able to get in and out of downtown. We want people to be able to take bicycles downtown and have safe routes to do that. But most of all, we want room for pedestrians,” MacKinnon said.

He pointed out that the most common concern boils down to congestion. 

“We don't want to have freeways through our downtown but we also don't want to make it so frustrating for car drivers that it takes them so long to get in and out,” MacKinnon said.

While traffic is a factor, he also noted that “we’re seeing massive changes happening in cities around the world,” including car-free zones in Paris.

“No matter how you're coming to downtown [Halifax], everyone is a pedestrian at some point, whether you're coming by bike or car or walking,” MacKinnon said.