‘More comfortable and safer:’ crosswalk construction starts on Nanaimo’s Townsite Rd.

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Crews were already in place Tuesday morning at the Holly Ave. and Townsite Rd. intersection. (Image Credit: Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

mobility improvements

'More comfortable and safer:' crosswalk construction starts on Nanaimo's Townsite Rd.

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Rose said the cost is expected to be $250,000.

Rose said flashing pedestrian warning beacons will also be installed for pedestrians and cyclists wanting to cross Townsite Rd., with the curb lines being moved a bit to reduce the length of the crossing.

Disruptions to traffic, including lane, sidewalk, and crosswalk closures, are expected during construction, with signage and traffic control personnel in place.

Residents are asked to stay alert and proceed with caution in the area.

Rose said raised crosswalks are becoming more common in the Harbour City, with planners favouring them for their 24/7 speed management capabilities, especially as they’re seeing “fairly consistent” speeding by vehicles across the city.

The affected areas during construction. (Image Credit: City of Nanaimo)

Nanaimo’s Third St. recently re-opened to traffic after almost a year of construction, implementing more detailed and complex surface-level improvements known as a ‘Complete Street’.

However, the type of mobility improvements infrastructure can be limited by several factors, depending on the area.

“If we have emergency response routes or things of that nature, it’s really not ideal for those service providers. We tend to find other ways to improve crossings, either by shortening them or by creating a midpoint refuge or things like that, and so we have a toolkit with a few different things in it that we use as the conditions sort of support it. But as I say, there are a lot of locations in town where we’re finding that these tend to tick the most boxes for what we’re trying to do.”

He said conversations regarding reducing vehicle speeds in neighbourhood area school zones are ongoing, with more information being presented at a future council meeting.

Other, similar mobility improvement projects scheduled for this year include raised crosswalks and tactical walking surface indicators (TWSI) at Waddington Rd. and Duffering Cres., raised crosswalks, lighting, and TWSI’s being added to the Townsite midblock near East Wellington Rd., as well as at Townsite and St. Patrick’s Cres.

Speed humps, pedestrian flashers and TWSIs are planned along Pine St. and Wentworth St.

More details on the mobility, accessibility, and safety improvement projects ongoing in Nanaimo can be found here at Nanaimo.ca.

A rendering of what the finished Townsite Rd. and Holly Ave. intersection will look like once construction is complete. (Image Credit: City of Nanaimo)

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