By David Wiwchar

MoTI Manager says he has no mandate

No improvements for Cathedral Grove

Oct 23, 2025 | 9:20 AM

Improvements to Cathedral Grove traffic issues are not forthcoming.

That was the message from BC Ministry of Transportation’s Island District area manager Michael Pearson to the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Board of Directors meeting yesterday.

“There’s still more demand for use of the park than there is parking available.” he said. “The Ministry has no plans at this time to extend parking or revisit the options that we started developing back in 2018.”

Pearson said the government knows it’s a problem, but he has not been given a mandate to fix it.

“In those areas where there was already ‘No Parking’ restrictions in place, we placed concrete barriers and physically restricted parking and so now it’s much easier to enforce,” he said. “It’s not to say we couldn’t extend the barriers further and continue to chase the problem, as we recognize it doesn’t solve the Cathedral Grove problem but it helps us manage the situation at least, until collectively we come up with a better solution for access.”

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Tens of thousands of dollars were spent on public consultation processes in both Port Alberni and Parksville in 2018 and 2019, but plans to build a pedestrian overpass and U-turn route for the half million visitors are no longer on the table.

Sproat Lake Area Director Penny Cote said without improvements, park visitors will be hurt or killed.

“So I’m wondering what the plan is, because more concrete barriers [are not] the answer,” she said. “People are just going to keep parking farther down the highway and walking on the highway, and they’re pushing baby carriages and there are people with disabilities. It’s easy to trip and there’s huge trucks on the that road. Is there a plan?”

Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Directors said they will send a letter to every appropriate level of government and every ministry involved to become a priority safety issue again.