By Spencer Sterritt

Traffic delays start due to $2.3 million Rutherford Rd. roundabout construction

Jun 7, 2017 | 4:35 PM

NANAIMO — If you drive through the Rutherford and Nelson Rd. intersection, your commute is about to grow longer.

Short traffic delays have started at the intersection of Rutherford and Nelson Rd. for construction of a roundabout, which will accommodate the roughly 600 houses being built in the Linley Valley West subdivision.

Chris Lang, a project engineer with the City of Nanaimo, said drivers should expect delays from now until August, which will be longer in July.

Access onto Nelson Rd. from the construction area will also be blocked during construction.

While crews work on the East side of the intersection, cars will be routed to the West side. It will then switch once work begins on the West side.

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Lang said given the $2.3 million price tag, it’s a significant project for the City.

“You’ve got a new intersection on a major road that carries quite a bit of traffic volume and then to add to it, that intersection is a roundabout which to some users is somewhat new.”

Since it’s unknown when the intersection will start seeing more cars, depending on how quickly houses sell in Linley Valley West, Lang said they’ve designed it as a single-lane roundabout to ease people into the idea “as opposed to the next layer of complexity with a dual-lane roundabout.”

It will eventually become Nanaimo’s first two-lane roundabout.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterritt