Halifax Regional Council has voted to start work on the Windsor Street Exchange redevelopment project.
The major bottleneck interchange is set for a slew of changes that include widening the roadway to make room for rapid transit lanes, as well as walking and bike paths.
The vote was unanimous Tuesday, to start the project ahead of a finalized plan in order to still be eligible for $30 million from the provincial and federal governments.
Councillor Sean Cleary said starting now is the right way to go.
“If you said, ‘Ok, fine we’ll do the design’, we lose all the external funding because that going to take you another eight, ten, 12 months to get that to come back to us,” said Cleary. “So, this is the most efficient, the best way to go ahead and get those things.”
The motion was first rejected by council in January due to ballooning costs but made its way back to the table in February with the plan for some adjustments.
Councillor Daniel Steele said she worried that delay would have set them back but is happy it did not.
“Thank you for the information and what the early works construction will look like this summer. I’m pleased that a lot of time is being spent on how that will be managed and communicated to both residents and businesses,” said Steele.
Work is expected to start in August.
