‘Political circus’: Halifax council reverses bike lane decision after premier warning – Halifax

Halifax regional council has voted to step back from their original plan of adding a bike lane to a downtown road after nearly two hours of debating on Tuesday.

The majority of council voted against converting Morris Street into a one-way to accommodate a bike lane. This comes following warnings from Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston of intervention if they did not reserve its original decision.

“Today we have a chance to correct course, not because we were wrong to act but we were right to adjust our course. We’re right to correct course,” said Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore.

The final vote was 11 to 5 to change course.

On July 16, Houston sent a letter to Fillmore and councillors that gave them until Aug. 6 to reverse course on the approved Morris Street plan or his government would step in to overrule it.

Houston told council in the letter that the plan would cause traffic congestion, create public safety risks and potentially jeopardize activity at the nearby port.

Houston pointed out that the province has legislation — Bill 24, which was passed in the spring — that gives it the power to set transportation policy for municipalities. The letter went on to say “the provincial government will be forced to act” if council goes ahead to make Morris Street one-way.

Back in June, Fillmore brought forward a motion to pause bike lane construction in order to consult with stakeholders. That motion, however, was defeated.

Councillor Sam Austin called the dilemma a “political circus.” However, he said he voted in favour of the rescission as new concerns came to light.

“I think we are better off not to end up with a written order that’s going to be there potentially forever,” Austin said. “I will vote for the rescission but I do not like the alternatives that are proposed here.”

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But not all councillors voted against it.

“I’m staying with where my decision was last time and I’m just putting the premier’s declaration at bay,” said councillor Becky Kent.

Meanwhile, councillor Jean St-Amand said he doesn’t want the issue to jeopardize the city’s relationship with the province moving forward.

“We had stakeholders approaching us saying the information upon which the original decision was made was potentially dated,” St-Amand said. “And then there was also the letter that we received from the province.”

Following the vote, Mayor Fillmore said his relationship with councillors is a “work in progress.”

Council passed an amendment to go back to the drawing board and consult stakeholders further on their options for the bike lane, including the possibility of bringing back the original plan with new information.

— With files from Global News’ Rebecca Lau

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