District 9 Councillor Shawn Cleary is bringing a motion to HRM council tomorrow

From Milan to Mississauga, cities around the world are restricting car traffic to make way for active transportation during COVID-19.

District 9 Councillor Shawn Cleary is bringing a motion to HRM council tomorrow in hopes of doing the same.

The motion is calling for the temporary installation of bike lanes and active transportation routes in HRM, using already approved routes for HRM’s Integrated Mobility Plan, or other streets, where appropriate.

Meghan Doucette is the executive director of the Halifax Cycling Coalition and says her group supports the motion for a number of reasons.

Doucette cites safety of pedestrians and allowing people to socially distance while getting exercise as reasons why Halifax should follow the lead of other cities.

She says essential workers and people who need essential items, like groceries and prescriptions, have been using more active transportation in the past few weeks as a result of the pandemic.

“There’s a lot more uptake in cycling and walking as a way to get to those essential workplaces and shops,” Doucette tells The Sheldon MacLeod Show.

The Halifax Cycling Coalition is asking people to contact their local councillors to let them know they support the motion.

But there isn’t much time to work with.

Cleary called for an “expedited” report from municipal staff because all of this would have to happen before COVID-19 is over.

“There is a real sense of urgency here. We don’t know how long this will go on for, but there's this need for people to be able to move around their city in a safe way and it’s a really immediate need,” Doucette says.