Councillors weigh in ahead of renewed bike lane debate at council

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Two councillors are giving their thoughts ahead of today’s return of bike lane talks at regional council.

Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini will table a new bike lane motion later Tuesday morning, asking for a list of bike lane projects and costs, for staff to look at alternative network designs to save money, and to look into new funding sources.

The June 24 discussion follows a similar motion from the mayor two weeks ago. Andy Fillmore’s motion, which specifically asked for a pause on new bike lane designs and builds, was defeated by council.

District 14 Councillor John Young says he’s not sure yet if he’ll support Mancini’s motion.

“Let’s get some stats, let’s get the staff report to see how we can do this, if we are going to do it, more efficiently in the future,” said Young.

Related:

• Bike lanes back on council agenda with new motion from deputy mayor
• Councillor says N.S. could give Halifax ‘strong mayor powers’
• Halifax council rejects motion to pause bike lane construction

District 11’s Patty Cuttell, meantime, says she’ll be open-minded on this motion.

“We have a new council, we have a new mayor. We should take a look at everything that is happening, what the costs are and try and find alternative funding services,” said Cuttell.

The price tag for the triple-A bike network has increased substantially, from an original estimate of $20 million to over $90 million.