Work is now complete to prevent further rock slides on the northeast face of Sugarloaf Mountain in the city's Departure Bay neighbourhood. (City of Nanaimo)

By Ian Holmes

safety improvement

Crews complete securing loose boulders at Sugarloaf Mountain Park

May 19, 2021 | 5:31 AM

NANAIMO — New safety measures in place at Sugarloaf Mountain are done following elevated safety concerns from insecure boulders at the popular park.

City of Nanaimo municipal services inspector Pete Entwhistle said crews recently finished a month-long initiative of securing a section of the mountain beside the public stairs accessing the park.

He said the project featured embedding several anchors into a six metre wide over-hanging rock, supporting it with concrete platform and surrounding it in mesh wire.

“It’s nice not only to give not only the homeowner some piece of mind but the public itself,” Entwhistle told NanaimoNewsNOW, who noted another unstable section of rocks was uncovered when vegetation was removed.

The project involved significant planning and engineering costs, resulting in a $110,000 bill to the City, Entwhistle said.

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Portions of the park surrounding the work site were cordoned off for about a month.

In 2018 mesh wiring and warning signage was installed nearby benefiting a few homes below on King Richard Dr. The first phase to improve public safety at the Departure Bay park was in response to rocks of various size tumbling down on properties below.

Entwhistle said no safety concerns have arisen that he’s aware of since the initial round of safety improvements were done two-and-a-half years ago.

“As far as we’re concerned everything is safe up there. We’re always going to reassess as we do maintenance in the area.”

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On Twitter: @reporterholmes