The bottom section of Commercial St. will be closed to vehicles for around two weeks beginning March 19 to allow concrete to be poured at the Commercial St./Terminal Ave. intersection. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

ongoing road works

Concrete pour forcing closure of Commercial St. block in downtown Nanaimo

Mar 15, 2024 | 4:06 PM

NANAIMO — Ongoing upgrades along Terminal Ave. in the city’s downtown are providing an opportunity to get a head start on another long-awaited project.

Crews working in the area are set to close a small section of Commercial St., between Terminal Ave. and Museum Way, beginning Tuesday, March 19 and running through April 4.

Bill Sims, City general manager of engineering and public works, told NanaimoNewsNOW the closure is to pour concrete at the intersection, which will unofficially kickstart Design Commercial enhancements.

“This is going to be a concrete sidewalk, and as we see Design Commercial being implemented we’re going to see storefront to storefront essentially a flat surface. Of course, it’ll drain, but rather than having upright curbs it’ll be a flat surface.”

The City has long envisioned a re-worked Commercial St. which would be more suitable for pedestrian movements and event hosting.

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A removal of curbs up Commercial St. and the addition of better event infrastructure is planned to continue in the fall of 2024 and running into 2025.

The closure beginning Tuesday, however, will see concrete poured over two days and then allowed to cure for upwards of 10.

Once complete, asphalt paving will be done at the intersection and the roadway re-opened.

Sims said it made sense both operationally and financially to complete this work now, with crews already at the intersection as part of the Terminal Ave. upgrades.

During the closure, all area businesses will be available as will pedestrian access along Commercial St. and crossing Terminal Ave.

“We have a bunch of candlelit delineators for people to thread their way through, kind of like at Disneyland in line but hopefully it doesn’t take as long as that [to cross].”

Vehicle traffic travelling down Commercial St. will be diverted at Museum Way to either Gordon St. or Front St.

Simultaneous work over the coming weeks will also take place at the Esplanade intersection with Terminal Ave., as new traffic signals are installed.

The City said drivers can expect traffic delays during peak times.

Work being done is similar to items already checked off an extensive ‘to-do’ list for the multi-million dollar project.

In addition to underground infrastructure replacement, crews are adjusting the road layout and enhancing the surrounding park space to be more pedestrian and active transportation-friendly.

The entire scope of the project extends along Terminal Ave. between Commercial St. and Esplanade and includes better lighting and more coordinated traffic signals along the corridor.

A concrete median, partially landscaped, will also help better divide traffic in the downtown.

As of mid-February, work was exactly on schedule with the main road work portion set to wrap in April.

Landscaping and final touch-ups will continue into the spring.

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