A new traffic signal just for bikes is making commuting on a bicycle a little easier in Dartmouth.
The bike signal, on the corner of Wyse Road and Boland Avenue, offers a protected light for bicycles to go through the intersection while stopping right-turning traffic.
“A lot of people have said coming off the bridge and turning left onto Wyse and the intersection with Wyse and Boland [has always been dangerous], because there’s that right turn lane,” says Ellen Riopelle with the Halifax Cycling Coalition. “It just makes it a lot safer.”
It’s the first of nine new signals that are going in along Wyse Road, according to the city.
Until recently, the traffic signals weren’t legal in the province. But the Nova Scotia government recently amended the Motor Vehicle Act to allow for the lights.
CREDIT: Anastasia Payne.
While Riopelle is pleased to see the new signals, she says there needs to be an education component – particularly for drivers, who often don’t know about changes coming to traffic signals until they’re launched.
“This kind of stuff isn’t on their rader,” she says. “People who aren’t involved with this infrastructure as much and don’t use it every day are the ones who the municipality needs to be targeting when we’re talking about education and awareness.”
Another issue Riopelle hopes will be addressed someday is the lack of connected bike pathways in the Dartmouth area.
“I think having a connected bike path is really important. You put in a really great bike lane in one place and then it just ends.”
Having interconnected bike lanes that allow a person to travel without merging with traffic would encourage more people to bike, Riopelle says.
“But I think for now, people are just excited that [the new signal] is there.”
