Safer Steps Chebucto

03/12/2026

We’re looking for Founding Board Members to help shape the future of Safer Steps Chebucto.

If you care about safer roads, stronger communities, and better connections for the people who live here, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a volunteer opportunity to join a growing community-led effort focused on making our communities safer, more walkable, and better connected. We’re looking for people who are passionate about local impact and excited to help build something meaningful from the ground up.

The time commitment is approximately 1–2 hours per month, with additional opportunities for those who want to take on special projects as the team and our work continues to grow.

Visit saferstepschebucto.ca/board to learn more, and send an email to [email protected] to express your interest.

Come help us build safer steps and stronger communities!

03/04/2026

03/04/2026

Thanks for stopping by Safer Steps Chebucto 🫶🏼 It was great to hear what you have been up to and the goals for the future. 🤩 Keep up the amazing work!

03/04/2026

Very pleased and grateful to present our work to our friends at the Chebucto West Community Health Board tonight! Thanks so much for meeting, and hearing about our many initiatives and goals for making our communities safer and better connected!

03/01/2026

This bend in Sambro (on Ketch Harbour Road) is so sharp and unsafe that a traffic mirror had to be installed by community members just so drivers (and pedestrians) can see what’s coming.

But what about the people on foot?

There’s no sidewalk.
Snowbanks erase the shoulder.
Drivers regularly cross the white line.
Locals literally call out “be careful” as they pass each other.

Here, pedestrians make impossible choices:
• walk with traffic so you can jump out of the way
• walk against traffic and hope drivers stay in their lane
• or lace up and run through the stretch just to get to pavement again

This is daily life in our beautiful seaside communities. We don't all install mirrors, but we dress our strollers in Christmas lights, buy coats in vibrant high-vis colours, and scan ditches to try to be safe, and hope to not become data that will constitute change.

We’re told change requires that “data.”
And that data is collisions. Yes, you read that right.

We are asking for proactive safety — not reactive statistics.

We do not want hospital visits to justify basic infrastructure.
We do not want injured children to become the evidence.

Safety shouldn’t require sacrifice.
It should be built in.



Patty Cuttell, Councillor District 11 Spryfield - Sambro Loop
Brendan Maguire

02/27/2026

This photo is from the edge of the Oceanview parking lot — 90 metres from the stop sign.

From this point, drivers coming up Ketch Harbour Road can already see the stop sign at Old Sambro Road. They also have CLEAR notice that they are approaching an intersection where pedestrians may be walking or preparing to cross.

There is also already a “Stop Ahead” sign in place. (Silly, us, we assumed we needed one there because why the heck are drivers not stopping?!)

So there are no excuses.

Drivers have advance warning.
Drivers have visibility.
Drivers have time to slow down.
Drivers have time to stop.

This intersection needs a flashing crosswalk. It seems there's enough visibility and notice to justify it.
This intersection needs crosswalk flags. Anything to reinforce to drivers that humans of all ages and abilities are trying to move safely in their community.
But more than anything, this intersection needs drivers to STOP FULLY.

People on foot should feel safe, respected, and protected here — not like they have to run for their lives just to cross the street.

The warning is there.
The visibility is there.
The responsibility is there.

Stop means stop. It does not mean yield or ignore it.



Is there a spot like this in your community that needs some serious attention? Let us know - snap a photo and send it to [email protected] !

Brendan Maguire Patty Cuttell, Councillor District 11 Spryfield - Sambro Loop

02/20/2026

You have to zoom way, way in, but I squealed with excitement this morning because it was the first time EVER, we saw another kid WALKING to school.

For Safer Steps, it's the question of: do people not walk because it's unsafe to do so? Would more walk if it was safer (with physical infrastructure like bollards, back of ditch paths or sidewalks)? There are walkers, rollers and runners, but there could and should be more in these small communities where key destinations are within one or two kilometres from most residents.

I do know ONE sure thing: sidewalks and protective infrastructure help people feel safer and more inclined to walk those short distances, instead of driving.

It's not possible for everyone, but it's possible for some, and it is our duty to teach the next generation (implicit or explicitly) that being on foot, mitigating the impact of climate change, physical and mental health, are all incredibly important and small acts (even a 600m walk to school) make a difference for our health and the health of our planet.

Now, to get action in place to actually make it safe (looking at you, elected officials...) Crosswalks, sidewalks, bollards, drivers who actually stop; these are not resource intensive or overly expensive asks for COMPLETE communities.

Plus, what price is too much for children (or anyone) to be safe?

02/18/2026

Fresh snow. Narrow, winding roads. Zero margin for error.

In winter, pedestrians lose even more space to snowbanks and ice. Drivers — slow down, give extra room, and EXPECT people on foot at every intersection.

02/17/2026

Imagine a Sambro where you can WALK safely from the ball diamond to the future community centre, up to Mishoo's and along the water to the wharf, or past the school to St. James Church. It's a beautiful and SAFE way to reimagine our streetscape, and reduce our dependence on vehicles for short distances.

Here is the primary resource page for the HRM Rural Sidewalk Program and the image shows what the area rate would look like (as an example, where it is being considered in communities like Hubbards currently undertaking this program). It seems like a PRETTY good deal for safety of our friends, neighbours, seniors and children who WANT to walk and feel safe on foot in their communities.

Note that Sambro was considered, but not selected YET. One of our pushes to the HRM Transportation Standing Committee is to prioritize Sambro under this program as Sambro is an:

"... area(s) with concentrated land uses such as small towns, villages, or any area with a concentration of people living, working, shopping, playing, and learning. The goal is to provide better connections for shorter trips to common destinations within a given area. It is in these clusters of activity, where an all ages and abilities type of facility may serve a latent demand for walking, rolling, or cycling due to a combination of reasonable travel distances, higher traffic volumes and speeds, and a lack of AT infrastructure. The goal is to focus investment on the main street."

Learn more: https://www.halifax.ca/transportation/cycling-walking/sidewalks-rural-community-centres

Do you want to see sidewalks in our community? Comment below or send us a note: [email protected]

Note that we are working with Patty Cuttell, Councillor District 11 Spryfield - Sambro Loop to arrange an in-person info session for March. Date TBD and will post it as soon as it's finalized.

02/15/2026

Thanks, Emily, for chatting with us about this important topic.

02/10/2026

🚨 PSA: STOP MEANS STOP. 🚨

STOP does not mean yield.
STOP does not mean roll through.
STOP does not mean power through a corner because you “don’t see anyone.”

IT MEANS STOP. FULLY.

Here’s why this matters:

This happened at Ketch Harbour Road & Old Sambro THIS MORNING. AGAIN.
A truck came ripping around the corner without stopping AGAIN. When it was about a foot away from us, the driver finally saw us and veered out of the way at the last possible second.

The snowbank was the safety plan. Let that sink in.

In better weather? Those snowbanks are ditches.

That is not dramatic.
That is not hypothetical.
That is the reality on our roads.

These streets are shared — by parents, kids, pedestrians, runners, cyclists, neighbours. We are not obstacles. We are people trying to stay alive.

Drivers:
🚗 STOP at stop signs. Every time.
🚗 Even if you think no one is there.
🚗 Even if you’re late.

I don’t want ANYONE to end up in the hospital — or worse — because someone decided a stop sign was optional.

This is maddening.
This is terrifying.
And this is happening right now.
Please. STOP. It is the law. It is someone's life you are putting in jeopardy, and I cannot even believe I have to type this. .

This is the exact intersection I was speaking to the Transportation Standing Committee about yesterday. This is the exact intersection neighbours call "a tragedy waiting to happen." This is the exact intersection I've put multiple requests in to public works for assessments for urgent change.

Patty Cuttell, Councillor District 11 Spryfield - Sambro Loop

Brendan Maguire for Halifax Atlantic

02/09/2026

Today, I had the opportunity to present to HRM’s Transportation Standing Committee on behalf of Safer Steps Chebucto. It turns out 10 minutes goes by very, very quickly. 🙈

I shared what we’re hearing loud and clear from residents across the Chebucto Peninsula: people want to feel safe walking in their own communities — whether that means sidewalks, safer crossings, speed reductions, or something else.

This work is grounded in real experiences and real data from our community. If you haven’t had a chance yet, our survey is still open and takes just 2 minutes to complete:
👉 saferstepschebucto.ca/survey

Thank you to everyone who has already shared their voice — it truly makes a difference.