Upgrades to Front St. in downtown Nanaimo were put on the backburner, thanks in some part to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

PANDEMIC PLANNING

Front. St upgrades among COVID-delayed capital projects in 2020

Nov 19, 2020 | 5:26 AM

NANAIMO — The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a minor shift in strategies for the City of Nanaimo’s capital project planning.

March saw local governments put all other priorities aside as the pandemic hit B.C.’s shores, closed businesses, limited transit opportunities and ceased many activities at City Hall.

Phil Stewart, manager of engineering projects, told NanaimoNewsNOW the pandemic also stopped their planning for a few weeks in the spring while the city determined what future priorities would be.

“We had a few projects that were on the less critical list that weren’t imminent infrastructure upgrades that needed to be done. Some of those projects we looked at them, paused them for a short period of time.”

One of the casualties is the Front. St face lift converting the existing space into a multi-user roadway with protected bike lanes and sidewalks.

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The project was originally due to begin construction over the summer, however the COVID-imposed stoppage along with design challenges pushed it further and further back

“As we restarted the project there were a few things that ended up being a little more complicated than we anticipated, mostly around the electrical design of the signals.”

Stewart said added design elements and other planning took longer than expected and the City ran out of favourable weather this year to begin the project.

Construction is currently scheduled to begin in spring 2021.

The City did manage to complete or substantially begin a number of key upgrades through the pandemic-affected year.

Road widening on Hammond Bay. Rd wrapped in May, while the city upgraded infrastructure on Bowen Rd., which included traffic flow remodelling similar to what is proposed on Front St.

Work also began on extensive changes to Metral Dr., part of a two-phase project which will extend into 2021.

The City is also eyeing upgrades to the sewer system along Bowen Rd. near Bowen Park before turning attention to the Boxwood connector project in 2022 and upgrades to Terminal Ave. in 2023.

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley