Halifax council has approved a parking-protected bicycle lane on Rainnie Drive. The lane will be a two-way protected bicycle lane placed between parked cars and the curb, with plastic posts further separating parked cars and people on bicycles. This lane could be built over the coming weeks if weather cooperates. The Rainnie Drive protected bicycle lane will run from North Park Street to Gottingen Street, and could be extended to Brunswick Street as early as next spring. This is the fifth major bicycle-related approval in the Regional Centre this year, following University Avenue, Hollis Street, Highfield Park Drive, and the study for Macdonald Bridge approach fixes.
Chicago’s Dearborn Street protected bicycle lane. Photo by Steven Vance on flickr.
The parking-protected bicycle lane on Rainnie Drive will make it easier to get from the Halifax Common to downtown, and will eventually be connected to the broader bicycle network. It is important to build protected bicycle lanes, as they are the best way to attract new people to bicycles. The Halifax Cycling Coalition is pleased with the progress being made on bicycle lanes this year, while acknowledging that some tweaks to the various bicycle lanes could make them even better, such as adding protected posts to Hollis and Lower Water.
The Halifax Cycling Coalition is optimistic that Brunswick Street and South Park Street will be upgraded with parking-protected bicycle lanes next year. This can be done without any parking loss, as demonstrated in our On Track for 2020 report.
If you want to see more protected bicycle lanes in Halifax, please email your councillor today. Don’t forget to thank him or her for voting yes to the Rainnie Drive bicycle lane today, and to CC campaigns@cyclehalifax.ca so we can be part of the conversation.
