The bike lane and sidewalk of Halifax's Macdonald Bridge have been closed for nearly two years due to the Big Lift redecking project, and multiple delays in their reopening have caused added frustration for many cyclists who commute across the Harbour.

"We're justifiably frustrated with what seemed like interminable delays in the reopening of bicycle and pedestrian lanes at the Macdonald Bridge, and we want to do something to draw attention to it," says Zachary Howarth, a cyclist who helped organize a protest.

On Thursday night a group of cyclists rode their bikes across the Macdonald Bridge to protest the continued delays in reopening the bike lane.

The protest began at Halifax's George Dixon Centre, with cyclists taking up a single lane of traffic as they crossed the bridge to the Dartmouth side.

"We're all frustrated with the long delays, and we really want to get on the bridge like everybody else," says cyclist Terry Lockhart.

When the sidewalk and bike lane originally closed in June of 2015, the expected reopening was December 2016. That date has since been pushed back four times, from January, to the end of March, to May, and now the end of June.

"There's a real sequence of events that has to happen for this project, you can't do this before you do that, and that's what has caused the delay in the sidewalk and bike lane reopening," says Alison MacDonald, communications manager for Halifax Harbour Bridges.

"It's been an inconvenience for everyone, but I definitely don't think we've been a priority in either their scheduled work or the messages they've put out about what kind of delays they expect," says Howarth.

It's illegal for cyclists to cross the bridge in the vehicle lanes for safety reasons, but Halifax Harbour Bridges were aware of Thursday's protest, and agreed to provide vehicles to help escort the riders across.

"There have been delays with the project, and that has impacted the reopening of the sidewalk and bike lane, we understand that frustration so what we decided to do was escort them across the bridge," says Alison MacDonald.

According to the Bridge Commission, about 1000 cyclists and pedestrians cross the bridge every day during the summer months. The Big Lift project has cut into that number significantly, with the free shuttle service seeing about 500 users per day.

“It’s always a bit of a delay, having to lift your bicycle up to the trailer and get it off and get into a sometimes pretty stuffy, uncomfortable shuttle,” says Terry Lockhart.

Howarth says while he appreciates the effort of the Bridge Commission to organize the shuttle, it isn’t worth the risk.

“There have been a number of bicycles that have been damaged on the shuttle, I’ve lost paint off my bike which is not a big deal, but we’ve heard of bikes being dropped,” says Howarth.

Organizers say they hope the protest helps bring some urgency to the completion of the bike lane, which will ultimately help bridge the gap in Halifax’s cycling infrastructure.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Allan April.