A municipal councillor is raising new concerns about who will oversee two of Halifax Harbour’s most critical links — the Macdonald and MacKay bridges — after a bill was introduced in the Financial Measures Act at Province House last month.
Board member Kathryn Morse says she worries about ethics as they roll staff into Link Nova Scotia – an agency responsible for long-term transportation planning.
“There’s not as much transparency and accountability now that the board has been dissolved. And I think where we need more collaboration between HRM and the province, seeing this dissolve is a bit of a concern.”
The move also comes one year after the Houston government removed tolls from both harbour bridges.
Morse says the city has lost nearly $40 million from not charging tolls so far, and that staff and board members will have less independence with the loss of dedicated revenue. Now, any infrastructure spending must go through the same waiting cue as other projects and council members are less likely to be included in decisions moving forward.
“Sometimes under Link NS we don’t get regular updates. We’re not always brought into the decision-making process,” Morse explains. “These are critical pieces of infrastructure and council will have less awareness and understanding of what plans are for them.”
She believes that this lack of insight could make planning for the future more difficult for municipal leaders.
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