The RDN is looking into how improved vehicular access to the Meadowood area north of Qualicum Beach can be accomplished. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

long road

Improved road access won’t come easy for rural Meadowood residents north of Qualicum Beach

Feb 24, 2020 | 4:46 PM

QUALICUM BEACH — Lobbying is intensifying for a second vehicular route for an emerging rural community north of Qualicum Beach, but the province isn’t keen on granting that wish.

Corcan-Meadowood residents association president Chris Burger said the connection of Corcan Rd. to Hwy. 19A being the only way in and out of a large area of roughly 700 homes is “challenging to say the least.”

He said the primary concern is available options to safely escape in the event of an interface fire. Burger said a second route would also make life much more convenient for an area poised for further growth.

“What is the plan here? How are we going to move forward to ensure that these 2,000 people, this growing population, have decent levels of access in and out of the area?” Burger said, who is a 10-year resident of the area.

The RDN board of directors recently passed a motion to express to the province’s Ministry of Transportation (MOTI) its desire for a secondary route.

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However, an MOTI statement to NanaimoNewsNOW was not encouraging for land-locked Meadowood residents.

A map detailing the Meadowood neighbourhood and its lone access to Hwy. 19A via Corcan Rd. (Google Maps/NanaimoNewsNOW)

“While the only public access is via Corcan Rd, there are alternative routes for emergency access via the private logging road to Spider Lake/Horne Lake. Those roads are owned by Mosaic Forest Management. The ministry is not currently looking into establishing a secondary route,” the MOTI statement said.

While most residents in the Meadowood/Little Qualicum River Village area are wedged between Hwy 19 and Hwy. 4, those highways don’t connect to the sprawling properties home to few services.

Burger, who’s a former Parksville mayor, said the RDN’s hands are tied by its inability to enhance vehicular access, which is provincial jurisdiction.

“They (MOTI) don’t recognize that there’s been so much growth, it’s not something that jumps out at you on a map,” Burger said.

Area F director Leanne Salter represents the increasingly popular Meadowood community. She described the lack of vehicular access as the “number one local issue”.

“They’re stuck and of course they’re surrounded by forest, which they love, but certainly not if it’s on fire,” Salter said. “There’s only one way out and that’s Corcan Rd.”

Salter said she understands it’s not as simple as building a road without repercussions, citing challenging topography in some areas and a variety of land owners.

“It’s going to take time, I don’t think it’s going to be something that happens overnight,” Salter said.

The RDN’s general manager of strategic and community development Geoff Garbutt reiterated the ball is in the province’s court in terms of green-lighting improved road access for Meadowood.

“It’s up to the province to determine their access requirements,” Garbutt said, who noted extending Ashling Rd. north to the Horne Lake area “makes the most sense” if an additional access route were to become a reality.

Garbutt said building a secondary vehicular route for Meadowood has been “a topic of discussion for a while” between the RDN and province.

There is a glimmer of good news to improve road access, but it will only apply in emergency situations.

It’s anticipated a new bridge spanning Little Qualicum River just south of Meadowood Way will be operational in October, 2020, according to the RDN.

The incoming pedestrian bridge in Little Qualicum River Regional Park will provide emergency vehicle access between Meadowood Way and Hwy. 4 in the Whiskey Creek area.

The new bridge will replace an old one which was damaged and closed in 2014.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @NanaimoNewsNOW