2025 Road Safety Report
On November 18, Regional Council was presented the 2025 Road Safety Report (here) - a comprehensive look at how our municipality is performing on road safety, where we’re seeing progress, and where urgent work remains.
Halifax adopted a new Road Safety Strategy in 2024, grounded in the principles of Vision Zero — the belief that no loss of life on our roads is acceptable. The strategy sets a bold goal: zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2038, and requires annual reporting to measure progress.
2024 Collision Snapshot: Serious Injuries Trending Up:
The report confirms a worrying trend:
- 11 fatal collisions
- 142 serious-injury collisions
Both represent increases over previous years.
With newly corrected police collision datasets now in place, HRM finally has accurate, comparable data to track safety outcomes going forward.
Where HRM Is Taking Action (On Municipal Roads):
While provincial roads require provincial intervention, HRM’s Road Safety Annual Report outlines several major initiatives happening on municipal streets:
- Intersection Safety Improvements - High-risk intersections across HRM continue to be redesigned, with more upgrades planned through 2027.
- Traffic Calming Expansion - HRM staff plan 47 new traffic-calming installations in 2025/26, plus 11 carried over from 2024.
- Lower Speed Limits on Local Streets - Ten additional neighbourhoods will have speed limit reduction applications prepared in 2025/26.
- Better Data Through an Updated Dashboard - HRM is expanding its Road Safety Dashboard with population-adjusted collision rates, injury severity indicators, and new KPIs.
- Near-Miss Analysis - Intersection “conflict studies” continue — one example showed an 81% reduction in turning conflicts after adjustments at Dunbrack & Lacewood.
Important Context for District 13:
Many communities in District 13 — including those along the #333 Highway (Prospect/Peggy's Cove Rd) as well as the communities stretching from Ingramport to Hubbards — are located on provincial roads, not municipal ones. This distinction is critical to understanding what HRM can and cannot do when it comes to road safety.
Provincial roads are NOT eligible for:
- HRM traffic calming
- HRM speed reduction applications
- HRM pedestrian safety upgrades unless the Province approves and partners
- HRM-installed speed tables, raised crosswalks, rapid flashing beacons, etc.
However, there may be good news on the horizon provincially as well. The Province has passed the new Traffic Safety Act (formerly the Transportation Safety Act), which modernizes outdated rules and — crucially — allows for Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE), including photo radar. However, the Act has not been proclaimed yet.