Social media forums ignited during construction/opening of a short section of active transportation amenities on Hammond Bay Rd. at Renee Pl. just west of Williamson Rd. The project includes a boulevard and modernized LED street lights. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

bike lanes

Bike lanes to nowhere: Nanaimo grapples with piecemeal project dilemma

Jan 29, 2025 | 5:36 AM

NANAIMO — Attempting to bolster active transportation amenities is proving to be an ongoing, delicate task City officials are continually navigating.

It’s a bumpy road with the challenge more paramount in existing road networks.

Backed by numerous policy directives to create more non-vehicular travel options, increasing numbers of sidewalks and bike lanes are materializing in locations that the City’s transportation manager concedes aren’t perfect solutions at this time.

Spurring a lightning rod of criticism is a short sidewalk/bike lane created late last year on Hammond Bay Rd. at Renee Pl. in front of a residential lot under redevelopment.

The stand-alone project, Jamie Rose said, is viewed as an evolutionary process as neighbouring redevelopments arise.

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“We acknowledge that it’s going to be orphaned for a little bit, but in time things will be built around it. It’s sort of this struggle of when do you put the first step forward in building this project,” Rose told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Hammond Bay Rd. suddenly narrows at Renee Pl., presenting a sharp deviation in the straight section of road. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

He said the City has one chance, as redevelopments are approved, to receive developer-provided frontage improvements like sidewalks, bike lanes and modernized street-lights aligned with City engineering guidelines.

“There are times where we make compromises and there are times when we may not require changes, but it’s an opportunity for us to have infrastructure and connectivity added to our network without affecting the tax base.”

Stating Nanaimo is comprised of a collection of improvement districts with varying road network designs and short on non-vehicular amenities, Rose said implementing frontage works within existing roads often isn’t a straight-forward process.

“It becomes quite complicated because we really can’t get anything past the edge of the property lines, but still want to have an opportunity to improve the network, even if it’s incremental.”

Rose pointed to ongoing density developments on Wallace St. where considerably more value from road frontage works will be created for all road users.

Clean slate, “greenfield” developments provide an ideal, less labour-intensive opportunity, Rose said, to execute unified frontage improvements.

Developer supplied road frontage enhancements on Rutherford Rd. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

‘We’re handcuffed in our response’
City councillor Tyler Brown, an active transportation proponent, points to provincial legislation as a significant impediment to how local government’s obtain frontage amenities like sidewalks and bike lanes in existing neighbourhoods.

He strongly supports having developers pay local governments cash in lieu, as opposed to fund immediate property frontage works, to allow the City the ability to build up funds and execute more substantial active transportation projects.

“The City as a whole knows this is a problem, we’re handcuffed in our response. We have requested legislative changes that would allow us to be more flexible in how this happens,” Brown said.

Isolated projects like Hammond Bay Rd. at Renee Pl. may not be properly integrated with the surrounding area for many years, Brown pointed out.

He said being in a “take it or leave it” position constantly puts the City in a difficult position.

“It creates this kind of almost absurd scenario where you get little chunks of frontage that don’t add up and they stand out to drivers, and they also don’t work for pedestrians and cyclists. It’s almost an impossible scenario.”

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