A downtown shuttle, replacing the Cogswell Interchange, and a fast-ferry to Bedford are all among the top new projects Halifax Regional Municipality staff want to see get funding from the federal government.
Council asked HRM staff to come up with a list of “shovel-ready” projects once it became clear the federal government was putting hundreds of millions of stimulus dollars up for grabs.
The problem is that many details of how the funds will work, and their criteria, are so far unknown. So city staff put together a list of 20 new projects most likely to receive funding based on what they know so far.
The project that ended up with the highest ranking was the demolition of the Bisset Road Rehab Centre.
The shuttle, interchange and ferry came next.
Most of the top 20 involved transportation. A new garage facility, peninsula transit corridor, MetroLink and Access-A-Bus expansion, and more transit stations were all listed.
Other priorities include funding for Halifax Common concert venue infrastructure, 2011 Canada Games venue upgrades, and a 4-pad arena.
Projects were ranked on a variety of factors, from financial and customer service impact to how well they linked into existing plans.
Council will vote today on whether to approve the priority list and send it off to the province and Ottawa for lobbying.
