Vehicle speeds along Extension Rd. are consistantly monitored well above the prevailing 50 kilometre per hour limit, prompting changes from the City to curb speeders. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

SLOW DOWN

Traffic calming work to begin on notoriously speedy Extension Rd.

Jul 19, 2023 | 5:27 AM

NANAIMO — After years of complaints and dozens of accidents, work to slow speeders on a problem road is getting the green light.

Councillors voted nearly unanimously during a governance and priorities committee meeting on Monday, July 17 to support traffic calming plans for Extension Rd. between Cranberry Ave. and Cinnabar Dr., which will involve narrowing and changes to several intersections.

Bill Sims, the City’s general manager of engineering and public works, told councillors speeding in the lone corridor through Extension and the Cinnabar Valley was a long-time problem.

“It’s very clear…speed is really quite a challenge. Speaking to [the Chase River Neighbourhood Association], got it nailed down to the offending culprits: essentially anyone behind the wheel is creating this problem.”

An April 2023 study showed the predominant speed along the 50-kilometre-per-hour corridor was closer to 63 kilometres per hour.

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A max speed registered by City monitoring equipment was around 130 kilometres per hour by a vehicle travelling on a Friday night.

Similar data was captured during a separate study in July 2020.

Residents have long complained about noise from passing, speeding vehicles and the dangers associated with speed.

An allegedly impaired and speeding driver crashed into a home in July 2020, prompting louder calls from neighbours for Council to take action.

Managing traffic flows for Chase River Elementary School, in addition to access in and out for Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews helped influence plans for north Extension Rd.(City of Nanaimo)

Quynh Nguyen, assistant transportation planning specialist with the City, said they’re targeting several improvements for the north end of Extension Rd.

“Crosswalk improvements and intersection narrowing with bollards would be applied. For the school zone area, we would be installing the speed reader board just below the school zone signs.”

To the south, up the hill, similar crosswalk additions and narrowing would take place, in addition to “a speed table south of Richardson Rd. and concrete medians at the intersection of Cinnabar Dr. and Extension Rd.,” according to Nguyen.

Support for work to begin this fall and be complete by next spring was shared by a vast majority of Council.

Changes to the south end include a three metre wide speed table near Richardson Rd. and several areas of intersection and narrowing to discourage speeders. (City of Nanaimo)

Coun. Erin Hemmens said she drove the road recently and struggled to stick to the posted speed limit due to the flow of traffic.

“Since I’ve been on Council for five years, we’ve been wrestling with this area and what to do and I think we just need to try something. We’ve shown that if something is not working, we’re willing to modify it.”

Both Hemmens and coun. Ian Thorpe both mentioned residents would also like to see a separate road connecting their communities to the rest of Nanaimo, however acknowledged it was not part of the scope of this project.

The lone objection to traffic calming came from coun. Sheryl Armstrong who raised concerns about lane narrowing.

She said they can lead to “a lot more accidents”.

“People seem to think the narrowing of Metral Dr. has slowed traffic down, well I sat there for a day and it certainly hasn’t. There’s been a huge increase in accidents, not necessarily pedestrian but definitely motor vehicle accidents.”

Data from the City between January 1 to June 30 showed Nanaimo Fire Rescue responded to 296 motor vehicle accident calls across the region in 2023.

During the same time period, crews responded to 308 calls in 2022, 260 in 2021, 278 in 2020 and 311 in 2019.

Armstrong also raised concerns about larger trucks using the road, however, City staff mentioned representatives from the trucking industry were part of discussions with the Chase River Community Association and were generally supportive of the proposed work.

The project must still be formally approved at the Council table and is due to be part of the consent agenda on July 24.

Data from an earlier study of Extension Rd. mirrored results found in April 2023, showing traffic going well over the posted 50 kilometre per hour speed limit (NanaimoNewsNOW illustration)

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