Dear Timberlea-Prospect Residents,
This seasonal change awakens nature and provides the means for the trees to regain their leaves, flowers bloom, and the birds to return.
Following my bi-annual newsletter that will be hitting your mailboxes this week, I am pleased to keep updating (those who subscribe) with more frequent information, with so much happening in our community.
As growth and development continues to advance and sprawl outside of the city core and into rural areas, it is important to be aware of the impact it will have on our communities and ensure the protection of the features that attracted people to this area in the first place are an integral part of the planning process.
Over the next ten year span more development in BLT and along the Prospect Communities is inevitable, but through collaborative engagement and prudent planning we can mitigate impacts to traffic and the environment while bringing amenities to residents. For this reason, I have been investing significant time and will continue to, over the coming months, by sharing the priorities of residents to senior staff at Public Works especially with respect to our major access points.
Public Works, as the owner of Prospect Road, has partnered with the HRM, to conduct a comprehensive study of the Prospect Road from St Margaret’s Bay Road to Prospect Bay Road. I am pleased with the Minister of Public Works response to work with my office and incorporate community member’s input on the traffic study to improve safety and access. As this study is set to be launched, I attended a meeting with Public Works staff and two members of PROBE, Maureen Yeadon and Barb Allen, to highlight traffic concerns and areas of importance for consideration within the study.
In addition to consideration for emergency egress and solutions to avoid road closures, we have requested the study apply the principles of the Halifax Green Network plan to ensure landscape ecology is incorporated. The study will run into the fall with interim meetings taking place for feedback, comments, and suggestions throughout the study. A final report is expected in the early part of 2025.
We received great news regarding new traffic lights being installed at the Timberlea Parkway / Saint Margaret’s Bay Road this year, along with two crosswalks at Brunello Blvd, and Marketway. The next request my office is advocating for along this area is a traffic light at the Marketway entrance to the Sobeys shopping complex. As the province owns the Highway 103 and off-ramp, I have asked them to proactively engage HRM to see if we can advance the timeline of when we can see intersection improvements there.
As always, I remain privileged and honoured to be your MLA.