The Town of New Glasgow and Cycling Nova Scotia are proud to announce the project’s completion. 

The Blue Route is a province-wide project to create a continuous cycling network across Nova Scotia. The Blue Route Hubs Project (now known as the Core AT Networks Project) aims to help communities along the Blue Route evaluate their potential to develop AT routes. Whether you drive, walk, roll, or ride, active transportation infrastructure is for you.

Cycling Nova Scotia’s Active Transportation Planner/Designer worked with staff, community, and stakeholders to identify three potential route options to link New Glasgow residents to key destinations and connect the Blue Route into downtown. A series of focus groups, interviews, surveys, pop-up engagement and community bike rides were used to gather feedback and gauge community interest. From the three route options, the community and staff prioritized the design of each route based on connectivity, readiness, inspiration, equity and current conditions. Route 3 was identified as the first priority, and was brought into the final phase of the project (Phase 3). With the completion of Phase 3, we have finalized the concept designs and Class D cost estimates for AT infrastructure along Route 3. 

You can read about Phase 1 here and Phase 2 here. Phase 3 will be made available to the public in the next month. To summarize the phases:

  • Phase 1 focused on identifying walking, rolling, and cycling routes that connect residents to key destinations in New Glasgow
  • Phase 2 involved working with community residents and staff to prioritize the route options for further exploration 
  • Phase 3 resulted in creating a concept plan and design for the route option with the highest priority 

The recently competed Phase 3 concept plan is composed of specific design recommendations for 5.6 kilometers of trails and streets in New Glasgow. These recommendations help cater to each street and trail’s specific needs. 

The implementation process will be a phased approach of short (1-3 years), medium (3-5 years), and long-term (5-10 years) goals. Short-term goals include tasks such as hiring consultants and applying for funding to construct and complete Route 3. Medium-term goals include applying for funding, hiring consultants, and hosting public engagement sessions for the construction of Routes 1 and 2. Long-term goals will be the construction of Routes 1 and 2 and continuingly to expand and develop an AT network in the Town of New Glasgow.

On July 17th 2023, Cycling Nova Scotia’s Active Transportation Planner/Designer, presented the final concept plan and costing to Council. The presentation outlined recommendations and next steps. 

An ambitious plan like this is only possible when community champions come together and provide their input and support. Cycling Nova Scotia would like to thank everyone who took part in the public engagement process for the Blue Route Hubs Project to share their feedback. Your input was extremely valuable to our work. Thank you to Veronica Deno and Earl MacKenzie at the Town of New Glasgow for your leadership, advice, and partnership to make the project a success for New Glasgow. We acknowledge support from the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables and the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism, and Heritage.

The Town of New Glasgow has demonstrated leadership in active transportation planning for several years. Implementation of the Blue Route Hubs Project will continue to support this tight-knit community going forward in creating a happy, healthy, affordable and sustainable town. Cycling Nova Scotia is proud to have had the opportunity to be a part of this incredible project and will continue to be available to the Town of New Glasgow for consultation as staff work to implement the recommendations. 

To celebrate the completion of the Blue Route Hubs Project in New Glasgow, we are hosting a community bike ride! Join New Glasgow’s Mayor, Council, Staff and Cycling Nova Scotia for all the fun on July 27, 2023, at 6 pm.

This is an all-ages and abilities event. We will travel at a reasonable pace, and have people at the back of the ride to ensure no one gets left behind. There will be fun for everyone, whether this is your first community ride or your 100th! The ride will start and end at the Glasgow Square Theatre parking lot, the entire ride will be about 4km long. More information is available on our Blue Route Instagram and Facebook. 

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