Nanaimo’s active transportation: how we got here, contentious projects & what’s to come

Background

In 2014, the City adopted the Nanaimo Transportation Master Plan (NTMP), a document focused on vehicular travel, advancing public transit options and active transportation like walking and biking.

It outlined how the City would look in 25 years with a goal of increasing the number of trips taken by a bike five-fold. At the time, only one per cent (3,000 per day) of all trips in Nanaimo were by bike.

The master plan is centered on creating a minimum grid of bike lanes in Nanaimo between Hwy. 19 and the E&N Trail along Hwy. 19A. Several hub areas, such as downtown core, VIU and the hospital area, were identified as hubs within the grid.

The City’s goal for a short-term cycling network, connecting hubs (orange areas) to each other with the E&N Trail and Parkway acting as the main arteries. (City of Nanaimo)

City councillor Tyler Brown said increasing bike lane and sidewalk infrastructure is necessary to create safer modes of transportation for non-vehicular traffic through a sprawling Nanaimo.

“What we’re trying to achieve is a network of connected paths where you can get from A to B safely, as quickly as possible where you don’t require an automobile,” Brown, a staunch supporter of active transportation alternatives, said.

Brown said he believes the minimum grid will emerge within three years.

Coun. Ian Thorpe said he supports active transportation and the NTMP but believes it’s not being discussed properly among Council.

“My feeling is some others on Council interpret this differently and they just want to see fewer cars on the road, they want to see no cars on the road and they want to see all of our money spent into cycling lanes.”

Thorpe supported active transportation elements in the substantial Metral Dr. and Bowen Rd. projects but voted against bike lane upgrades on Front St. and Albert St.

“The reality is as our population continues to grow, we’re going to see more and more cars on our streets. We can’t choke off or narrow off all of our streets for a very small percentage of people who might prefer to walk or bike at the expense of the vast majority who will still be using cars.”

The City’s proposed medium term network of active transportation. (City of Nanaimo)

Front St.: ‘Bike lanes to nowhere’

Construction of active transportation infrastructure upgrades on Front St. begin on March 15. The project turns the lane closest to the waterfront into a dedicated bi-directional bike lane.

Coun. Thorpe said in the last year he’d seen “maybe one person” cycling along Front St. and didn’t see it as a priority for the City to overhaul.

“To me, that’s an important commercial corridor. We’ve got a new condo development that’s going to be happening…already the new Pacifica building and hopefully a nice, new hotel on the water side as well, it’s going to be…very busy.”

Coun. Brown said the Front St. development is a crucial piece in the larger active transportation puzzle.

“Eventually [Front St.] would connect to the sea wall which will eventually connect you to Departure Bay. Now you can imagine that loop connecting with Albert St. to VIU and some of the other routes that start to come into the downtown.”

There’s no timeline in place of when Front St. would connect to other routes and it’s expected to be a bike lane untethered from other lanes for some time.

Development of the downtown mobility hub and completion of the Nanaimo Active Transportation Master Plan are due to provide more concrete timelines.

Revamping Front St. is expected to cost $1.4 million with approximately $400,000 earmarked for active transportation.

It was originally set for completion in 2020 after being accelerated by Council before it was shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Money for bike lanes, but no money for homelessness”

A common argument against active transportation infrastructure stems from Nanaimo’s social disorder and homelessness issues and why money would be spent on bike lanes when it could be spent on housing.

Coun. Brown said it’s an issue he hears about often, particularly in the downtown.

“I would argue from a socio-economic perspective, cycling and transit are actually investments in affordable living. We talk about affordable housing as one component but transportation costs are a huge budgetary cost for any household.”

Coun. Thorpe said the issue of affordable housing lies with the province, however the City can help influence decisions made in Victoria by applying for provincial support and being vocal on their concerns.

“We have to look very carefully with what we’re tasked with in terms of our mandate and what we can afford to do. I don’t think we can spend all of our tax money on [addressing homelessness] when there are so many other core issues we have to deal with…infrastructure, public safety, recreational facilities, all of those things.”

Money for active transportation comes from a variety of different sources.

Bill Sims, general manager of engineering and public works, said senior government funding goes towards a sizeable percentage of active transportation projects.

“Front St. is well funded from the federal government through the gas tax program and similarly with Metral Dr.”

In many cases, grants provided by upper levels of government are designated for specific projects and municipalities are unable to divert money earmarked for active transportation elsewhere.

“If you build it, they will come.”

A mindset frequently active transportation supporters use is the City must invest and complete active transportation upgrades before it will see it used to its full potential.

“We do know from other cities…that if you build the infrastructure you can see a big shift,” Brown said.

“These are common criticisms that Victoria experienced, Vancouver experienced, New York experienced. Often what we find is that criticism diminishes because it becomes an accepted thing, the use case is there and everyone sees it.”

The leap of faith required to construct active transportation without an immediate need for it splits the council table.

Coun. Thorpe said he’s heard the argument of building out bike lanes to encourage growth, rather than waiting for demand to facilitate action from the city.

“I think it really has to be an individual project basis depending on where it is and what other factors are involved. I don’t dispute and I’m not opposed to the idea of increasing mobility options throughout the city through our master plan and active transportation.”

Thorpe added his main hesitation comes from a mindset of sacrificing vehicle space for bike lanes, even with vehicle volume expected to grow in the coming years.

Bike lane projects versus infrastructure upgrades

Support around the council table was divided for bike lane-specific projects along Front St. and Albert St., however the reception was much more unanimous when active transportation was a byproduct of end of life underground infrastructure repairs.

“We look at infrastructure replacement as an opportunity to make improvements to our transportation routes,” Thorpe said. “Metral is a good example and I support the idea of a complete streets vision, which is more accommodating to transit, cycling and pedestrians.”

Thorpe said his support on adding active transportation is project-dependant but he didn’t want to sacrifice the needs of people in cars, who accounted for nearly 90 per cent of all trips taken in Nanaimo in 2014, for a fraction of the population who use bikes.

“I think you have to look individually at each location and say ‘Is this really suitable, is this the best place for a bike lane and should this be a priority for this location’. On some of them I have no problem, in others I struggle with it.”

Coun. Brown said infrastructure upgrades are a great excuse to re-work the landscape to accommodate active transportation, but it can’t be the only way to change how people move around Nanaimo.

“Often people see the price tag that might be reported in the news and often [active transportation] is a fraction of the cost. On some key priority routes, yes we’re going to go in and try to retrofit them because they make sense.

Brown said pending upgrades to Albert St. to fuse the downtown to VIU for non vehicular traffic is an example of seeing needs and fixing it, rather than waiting for infrastructure to need replacement.

“We know there’s a strong cycling culture there where students like to cycle a lot, they like downtown so it makes sense to make that connection.”

Sims said active transportation aspects of an infrastructure upgrade project, such as on Metral Dr. can range anywhere from 10 to 25 per cent of the overall cost.

Several projects also aim to piggyback active transportation upgrades onto water main or sewer replacement.

We’re there making a mess anyways, let’s build it back better,” Sims said. “That’s how Bowen Rd. got some legs. Council was very clear about moving forward with active transportation and we need needed to repave the entire road anyway. For a little bit more we improved the experience for all users.”

‘Why not sidewalks?’

The lack of sidewalks, which falls under active transportation, in some areas of Nanaimo draws constant heavy criticism from residents. New development in the city must add paved sidewalks around their properties, however some existing areas must make do with unpaved shoulders or little to no space at all.

Additional pedestrian infrastructure was identified as a key priority in the NTMP, however combining both cyclists and pedestrians isn’t the solution, according to Brown.

“Pedestrians and cyclists move at different speeds…it’s physics, it has an impact. You don’t want to have conflict between users in the sense someone gets injured or worse than that. Whether you’re rolling or walking, cycling or driving in a car, if we can have the appropriate space for you on the roadways, it’s just safer for everybody.”

Although Thorpe said he would judge each project individually, he would be more likely to lend support to active transportation-specific projects combing pedestrian and cycling areas.

“Pedestrians were top of the list in the transportation master plan and I sometimes feel we’re overlooking that and skipping down to the cyclists. I’m all in favour of doing what we can to improve the safety and connectivity of our sidewalk systems and trailway systems.”

He conceded sidewalks were more expensive to build than bike lanes, but he would prefer to see focus on sidewalk development and crosswalk safety before bike lanes.

What’s next?

City staff are turning to future projects identified in the Master Plan as substantial projects, such as Front St., the expansive Metral Dr. upgrade and Albert St. improvements, get underway.

Sims said the City wants to divert bike traffic away from Bowen Rd. and connect the recently completed project with Beban Park and Boxwood Rd. through the “Midtown Gateway” project.

The route will eventually tie into in the University and downtown areas.

Terminal Ave. is also set for upgrades from Comox Rd. to Esplanade St., while a number of projects in south Nanaimo are also in the works.

“Harewood is a fairly good opportunity for cycling, there’s a number of fresh developments there and the traffic has gone up so we’re matching that with active transportation in that area,” Sims said.

A lengthy project to include bike lanes on Wakesiah Ave. between Bowen Rd. and Colliery Dam Park is awaiting funding and direction from council.

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alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley

by Alex Rawnsley

Nanaimo’s active transportation: how we got here, contentious projects & what’s to come

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