A raised crosswalk, pedestrian beacons and lighting enhancements will look to address continued safety concerns at Bruce Ave. and Albion St. where multiple pedestrians were hit in recent years. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

crossings

Flashing beacons, new sidewalks coming to pedestrian trouble spots in Nanaimo

Mar 16, 2021 | 5:32 AM

NANAIMO — Council is using an expanded budget and reserves to tackle 10 pedestrian infrastructure projects.

Nanaimo city councillors greenlit eight crosswalk upgrades and two sidewalk projects at their Monday, March 15 meeting. Nine of the projects are funded by the pedestrian unallocated budget which was doubled to $1 million for 2021.

Barbara Thomas, assistant manager of transportation, told Council the enhanced funding will afford considerable improvements.

“This year we have enough funds that we can look at the rectangular rapid flashing beacons as well as curb modifications and where needed we’ll do lighting improvements for the crossings as well.”

Flashing beacons will be installed at eight crosswalks in the city with select locations receiving the other upgrades.

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City council provided the green light on 10 pedestrian infrastructure upgrades on Monday, March 15 including flashing beacons at eight problematic areas in Nanaimo. (NanaimoNewsNOW Graphic/Google Maps)

A raised crosswalk was also budgeted for the Bruce Ave. at Albion St. project. The intersection was under review through 2019 following multiple pedestrian injuries, including one fatality, over the years.

Alexis Petersen, director of the Harewood Neighbourhood Association, told NanaimoNewsNOW drivers travelling south on Bruce Ave. seem to miss the marked crosswalk and focus well ahead of them.

“They accelerate and come down the hill quite quickly, they speed down and they don’t see the crosswalk. They’re looking at all the traffic ahead of them, cars coming in from Albion St., coming in from Fifth St. ahead of them and there’s much more congestion there now from the mall activities.”

She said the crosswalk becomes essentially invisible at night.

A ninth project will see sidewalk installed along Needham St. from Haliburton St. to Irwin St. It will link to work being done by Snuneymuxw First Nation and meet community requests to make the neighbourhood more walkable.

The estimated cost to complete all nine projects through the unallocated budget is $505,000. Approximately $85,000 in funding from ICBC’s road improvement program is anticipated by the City to help offset costs.

Staff will present a second recommendation to council in May on how to spend the remainder of the unallocated budget.

The 10th project was a last minute motion from Coun. Erin Hemmens who garnered enough support from council to approve a $554,000 project linking existing sidewalks in the 700 block Haliburton St. between Woodhouse St. and Robins St.

The sidewalk was included in the staff report featuring the nine other projects, however was not included in the recommendation for this round of funding.

Money for the project, which was originally scheduled for 2025, will come from the strategic infrastructure reserve in 2022.

Hemmens called the project the “missing link” between existing sidewalk infrastructure and new amenities in Nanaimo’s south end.

“Once built we’re going to have a complete pedestrian path the entire length of Haliburton St. which is a primary feeder into downtown.”

Support for the intent of the project was near unanimous, however the manner it was brought forward caused extensive debate.

Bill Sims, general manager of engineering and public works, requested time to ensure underground infrastructure on Haliburton St. would last long enough to make a sidewalk-only project feasible.

“[I’m] just putting it out there to allow staff to go back and confirm the infrastructure’s in reasonable shape and could support the improvement to this particular block of Haliburton and maybe refine the cost a little bit better.”

Mayor Leonard Krog, who initially expressed support for the project, petitioned for a deferment on the back of Sims’ comments.

“I have heard no compelling reason from any member of Council tonight as to why a motion that wasn’t in front of us about a half hour ago has to be decided tonight when we’re talking about a half million dollars of the City’s money.”

Krog’s move to defer was defeated by a 5-4 vote with councillors Hemmens, Ben Geselbracht, Don Bonner, Tyler Brown and Zeni Maartman voting together.

The five councillors argued a certain amount of due diligence had already occurred in order for the project to be included in the initial report.

“Should there be any information we did not know about prior that would be important for us to know, I fully expect staff would bring that to us if there was something unforseen,” coun. Geselbracht said.

A green light for the project was given by another 5-4 decision with voting lines remaining consistent from the previous vote.

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alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley