The MLA for Halifax-Atlantic has written to the municipality’s mayor expressing his concerns over a lack of sidewalks in the Spryfield area.
Brendan Maguire sent a letter to Mayor Mike Savage on Friday outlining the problems he is seeing in his community and the increasing dangers that pedestrians face.
READ: Pedestrian hit in Halifax crosswalk has life-threatening injuries, teen driver arrested
Maguire says he has personally witnessed a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle and often sees near misses.
“As it is right now, there’s sections of Herring Cove Road that are not pedestrian friendly at all. There is no sidewalks, there is no bike lanes, there’s nothing so people are walking along the side of the road and it’s a very busy road and there’s nowhere for them to cross,” he told Global News.
“All I’m asking for is that they take a moment when they do their planning for this year or next, and figure out a way to make it more pedestrian-friendly and family-friendly.”
This is a copy of the letter that Halifax Atlantic MLA Brendan Maguire sent to Halifax Mayor Mike Savage.
READ MORE: Driver charged after pedestrian struck in Herring Cove Road crosswalk
Maguire says he’s been getting several requests from people in the area who are looking for additional crosswalks. There are two areas of particular concern: one near the library just off Herring Cove Road and the other is on Dentith Street, next to a popular shopping plaza.
Maguire says there are no crosswalks there at all.
“People want the community to be more accessible and walkable, and right now with distances in between crosswalks it just isn’t,” he said.
“Herring Cove Road is an extremely busy road and there is a lot of people who have accessibility issues and there’s a lot of people that have mobility issues, so we see it all the time where people are trying to cross the street along Herring Cove Road.”
Maguire says getting crosswalks is a challenge.
“I know that the local business commission had gotten out to speak about it and one of the things that they said was these types of things disrupt traffic, the flow of traffic which we can understand but I think that a few seconds of disruption is probably less important than someone getting hit and their life changing forever.”
READ: Flagging it: Halifax council to debate crosswalk safety guidelines
The municipality has not yet responded to Global News’s request for comment.
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