As February comes to a close, the AT Team working on the Core AT Network Project is pleased to announce significant progress on several fronts.
Exciting Developments in Wagmatcook First Nation
We’re making great strides in Wagmatcook First Nation, with detailed designs nearing completion in consultation with Harbourside Engineering. With these resources in place, we’re preparing to apply on behalf of the community for the Federal Active Transportation Fund. This funding will support the development of a Core AT Network, though there are still a few final pieces to finalize before the application deadline on April 9th (for Indigenous communities). These include ongoing dialogue with the Nova Scotia Department of Public Works, gathering construction cost quotes, project management planning, and additional traffic studies. While Cycling Nova Scotia typically does not focus on this level of work, we remain committed to expanding and improving active transportation infrastructure across the province and are proud to help take the lead in the application and advance not only AT infrastructure but safety in the region.
Continued Progress across Cape Breton!
In Cape Breton, our consultants, C+D Community Design, on the functional design proposal for the Village of Baddeck and surrounding area, are ready to host a public engagement session at the BOLD Centre in Baddeck on March 8th, from 12–2 pm. At this session, we’ll present the current work and gather community feedback before finalizing the design package. This feedback will be used to inform the final design and costing, which will be presented to the community later this year. Our goal is to help the community advance their readiness in developing plans for inclusion in their capital budgets and for securing funding opportunities.
Ongoing Work in Westville and West Hants
In Westville and West Hants, we’ve completed engagement surveys on some of the concept designs. We are now finalizing the evaluation of the responses to refine the concepts. These refinements will be passed on to some of our consulting engineers for further design refinement and costing to be presented to their respective councils and planning and development advisory committees for adoption.
Looking Ahead — Berwick Community Engagement
With a short pause to the project last year, we are eager to jump back into presenting design considerations for the community of Berwick. We’ll be conducting some engagement sessions in late spring or early summer to understand the community’s needs and priorities regarding safety improvements.
Exciting New Partnerships
As the new year unfolds, we’re also excited to announce the new partners joining the Core AT Network Project. Keep an eye out on our social media for the official announcements of who the new partners are!
This will further support our efforts in helping address part of the Nova Scotia Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act (EGCRA), specifically Section 9(b), which aims “to complete core active transportation networks that are accessible for all ages and abilities in 65% of the province’s communities by 2030.”
We’re eager to continue this important work and help Nova Scotians walk and roll across the province!