Two sailings on Saturday and Sunday won't run on the Nanaimo to Gabriola route starting in mid-October. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

smooth sailing

BC Ferries delays sailing cuts to Gabriola-Nanaimo route after community concern

Jun 9, 2020 | 12:14 PM

NANAIMO — Cuts to the number of sailings on the Gabriola to Nanaimo ferry route are now postponed until mid-October.

BC Ferries initially proposed nixing two mid-afternoon Saturday and Sunday sailings, a trip in each direction, starting June 15 and lasting into winter 2020. This would eliminate 124 sailings out of the roughly 7,000 on the route each year.

Steven Earle, chair of the Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee, said there weren’t concerns about the small number of sailings lost but to the lineups it would cause on busy summer weekends.

“It’s a safety concern,” he told NanaimoNewsNOW. “The road the lineup goes along is not a good road for a ferry lineup. It’s curvy, has hills and is really difficult. We don’t like it.”

The Committee submitted a counter-proposal to BC Ferries on Saturday, asking the service cuts be implemented after August.

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Earle received a reply from BC Ferries only moments after speaking to NanaimoNewsNOW.

The service cuts will now come into effect in mid-October after the Thanksgiving holiday and remain until mid-May 2021.

Earle said it was going “above and beyond” what the Committee had asked for.

The lengthy lineup leading to the Gabriola Island ferry terminal is a longstanding concern in the community.

Widening the road and building a new terminal was considered a top priority for BC Ferries.

Major upgrades to the terminal are currently awaiting approval by the Gabriola Island Local Trust.

BC Ferries is removing sailings across most routes in an effort to save money after serious losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earle said they’re pleased to see the Gabriola Island route won’t suffer the same fate as the Denman Island to Hornby Island route, which lost key runs in the middle of the day and Friday nights.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit