Abstract Manager

Through the National Active Transportation Fund the Town of Wolfville, NS received nearly $3M from the provincial and federal governments to implement active transportation improvements. After undergoing design development and costing, however, it became clear that $3M would not be enough to fulfil the Town’s ambitions to become more walkable and bikeable.

In 2025, with the support of Mobycon, a new idea emerged. What if instead, the Town applied a more tactical approach to reach more streets and implement an entire network in two years? In Fall 2025, Mobycon undertook site visits and held workshops with residents and Council to develop this vision and action plan, and in 2026 the first phase will be implemented. In total, the implementation will feature Town-wide speed limit reductions to 30 or 40 km/h, 8km of traffic calmed streets, 2.2km of new trail, and tactical improvements to nearly 20 intersections and crossings.

The presentation will cover:

•    Context of the Town and existing policies that have laid the groundwork for it to be a walkable, bikeable community.
•    Use of a network-first approach update the Town’s Municipal Planning Strategy, reclassifying streets based on desired functions, and aligning safe speeds with each classification.
•    How engagement with the public and elected officials was conducted to develop a vision that excited residents.
•    Applying outcome-focused, scalable, tactical traffic calming designs to achieve desired travel speeds, along with communications and measurement strategies used.
•    Medium and longer-term considerations for leveraging new developments to grow the network.
•    Lessons for other small municipalities looking to use transportation strategies as a tool to build stronger, safer communities.