Even on a cold February day, bike space at Pleasant Valley elementary school is well subscribed, and leading to requests for funding to build better infrastructure for staff and students. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

big increase

Grant money hoped to help growing ‘bike gangs’ around Nanaimo elementary school

Feb 26, 2024 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — It’s being described as “a happy problem” to have, with the City and School District 68 partnering up to solve it.

A grant application is in with the B.C. Alliance for Health Living Society’s Active Communities Grant Program to build a new bike rack and shelter at Pleasant Valley Elementary School and accommodate a growing number of staff and students cycling to and from class.

Upgrades in 2022 to nearby Metral Dr., the main traffic route for the school, are seen as the main contributing factor to a sudden rise.

“The number of students we saw doing ‘bike buses’…actually ganging up in ‘bike gangs’ as it were and the street is so safe now that we have a number of students actually using Metral Dr. to the point where Pleasant Valley school is overwhelmed with bikes a good part of the year,” Bill Sims, City general manager of public works told Councillors on Wednesday, Feb. 21.

The project would cost up to $31,500 and is slated to begin construction in June 2024 if the money is awarded.

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A new concrete pad, bike racks and overhead shelter would be installed. It would not only provide more space but open up a wider window through the year for staff and students to bike to school.

Neither the City of Nanaimo nor School District 68 have presently allocated funds for it, meaning an uncertain future for the infrastructure if the grant is denied.

Sara Tyson, principal at Pleasant Valley Elementary, told NanaimoNewsNOW on average upwards of 10 per cent of the school’s over 400 kids bike to school on any given day.

During the warmer months, or nicer days in the winter, the number can be much higher.

They’ve been trying to find a solution to the growing problem since returning to Pleasant Valley after seismic upgrades in 2022.

“We came back last year and really noticed the influx of bikes that were coming to school and kids having to chain them up to a tree out front and not be able to lock them up properly with so many needing the bike rack.”

She added the improved physical, mental and social well-being of kids being able to bike to and from school more has been clearly seen.

Tyson said the activity helps regulate kids before coming to school, providing an overall better experience.

“There’s lots of kids, they wait for each other outside or they arrive together. I’ve heard parents talk about it, they have a meeting spot in the neighbourhood…some kids who might not want to ride by themselves, they feel more comfortable when they have friends to do that [with].

Results of the grant application will be known in April.

The City also submitted a second request to the provincial program, for up to $50,000 for a playground replacement program at Westhaven Park, off Hammond Bay Rd.

Existing structures on site were built in the 1990’s and are scheduled to be replaced this year.

City reserve funding of $167,800 has already been allocated to the project, however the grant money would see the City’s share of the project drop.

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