HALIFAX — Councillors will vote this week on whether to keep one lane of a busy stretch of downtown road car-free for active transportation.

On Tuesday, Halifax regional council is expected to see a staff proposal to keep a northern stretch of Barrington St. at three lanes until at least the spring of 2019.

Staff are recommending in favour of the proposal that would see Barrington St. between North St. and Niobe Gate Bridge at HMC Dockyard remain three lanes, as it has since May 2018 to allow for the Department of National Defence to make repairs to a retaining wall.

The area had been four lanes wide since the early 2000s when lane widths were lowered to three metres in order to facilitate a fourth lane, something staff say affects the functionality of the street.

The new configuration will see two southbound lanes and one northbound one, along with a sidewalk and a “temporary multi-use pathway,” an extension of the current Barrington St. Greenway popular with cyclists and pedestrians.

Despite the loss of a lane, staff say that traffic will likely be improved, mostly due to having wider lanes.

“Because of the narrow lanes, trucks and buses do not typically drive beside each other. They typically operate in an offset manner to avoid conflict. Therefore, the existing 4-lane cross-section within the project area does not have the expected traffic capacity of a typical 4-lane cross-section,” the report reads.

The multi-use pathway will also make it more comfortable for cyclists to move from North End Halifax to downtown and vice versa.

“Currently, this section of roadway does not provide a safe or comfortable bicycle facility and, given the narrow lane widths, vehicle speed, and high volume of large vehicles, it is very risky for bicycle use,” says the report.

Staff hope that the pathway will link with the existing Devonshire bike lane and the existing Barrington Greeway that runs from North St. to Cornwallis St., eventually extending through the future Cogswell district and into downtown.

The report also suggests that transit priority lanes be integrated into the project, and a transit lane for lane moving southbound between Glebe St. and North St. is already under review.

The minor alterations of the roadway, along with the pilot greenway extension are slated to cost about $700,000 that will fall under the 2018/19 capital budget.

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