Barriers designed to calm traffic and restrict left hand turns from Opal Rd. onto Rock City Rd. were removed after around two years. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Water Cooler: Traffic calming barriers on Opal Rd.

Jun 12, 2021 | 12:56 PM

NANAIMO — The Water Cooler is NanaimoNewsNOW’s letters to the editor-style segment, featuring conversations about the news in Nanaimo and Oceanside.

This week’s feature offers up three of the many letters we received around recent work on Opal Rd., with the removal of traffic calming barriers installed only a couple of years ago.

Stephanie L., Nanaimo: Opal /Tunah is a convenient short cut for everyone who lives in the Smugglers/Barrington/Rock City area. I understood why they put the barriers in, if I lived on Opal I wouldn’t be happy with the tons of traffic using my street as a short cut either.

I must say I, and everyone I know who lives in my area did one of two things when coming down Opal and getting to the barriers at Rock City Rd., we either tuned right then a quick turnaround on the street OR we just turned left period! I always took the longer way on Rock City to Departure Bay when, but had seen some vehicles manoeuvre their way around the barrier.

The traffic will only increase as the Rockwood Hts. Planned community is built out and housing increases. If I lived on Opal I would have the city, at least for now, have a large sign made saying FAMILIES LIVE HERE, WE APPRECIATE YOU RESPECTING OUR SAFETY AS YOU DRIVE THROUGH.

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In future they certainly have a case to have it closed off again, I believe a family with children moved in while the barrier was in place, feeling their children were on a quieter, safe street.

– – –

Kim J., Nanaimo: I feel for the residents on Opal and the removal of the barricade. I live on Emerald Drive which is also a cut through for residential traffic in the rock city and surrounding area. Vehicles go up Opal, cross uplands and cross over to Emerald we tolerate speeders and heavy traffic volumes on a daily basis. The side walk is only 3 feet wide not wide enough for pedestrians and children on bikes dealing with the bombardment of vehicles. Opal residents get in contact with Emerald residents to team up together to do something about our surroundings neighborhoods and pedestrians safety.

– – –

Nick R., Nanaimo: I have been driving taxi in Nanaimo for the better part of a decade. I went to Uplands Elementary through grade two. I then spent the rest of my elementary year’s at Rock City before going on to Wellington and finally VIU.

As soon as the measure went into place, to most of my passengers, it seamed that it was an obvious attempt for a few Opal Road residents to increase their property values at the cost of city tax payers. As the article says in the last paragraph, the route provides a shortcut between Uplands/Rutherford areas and Rock City/Departure bay. The route is a convenient path for thousands of people. In my opinion, it has to be one of the most convenient short cuts in the whole city.

The infrastructure added 60-70% to a customers fare in some cases. That adds up fast; that’s especially taxing if folks are using our service daily to and from work or the major shopping centres to get groceries for their families. We all know that prices are high enough as it is.

Although this is a notably convenient passage, I can name many other small neighbourhoods that could benefit in the same way the residents of Opal have from the luxury of a community funded blockaid. Why not spend a few hundred thousand dollars to outfit all those streets as well.

The only argument I read that was from the resident in favour of the barrier was that she was not happy with it being removed. Well many more people are happy it was removed and a vast majority of them paid for it. There are already community paid speed bumps installed to detour the small minority of speeders. I’ve spent more than 40 hours a week for nearly a decade on these roads. I can tell you that there are many other neighbourhoods that are much more in need of speed reducing infrastructure than Opal Road ever was.

NanaimoNewsNOW: The ongoing saga of Opal Rd. is a frustrating one for residents and the City.

After approving the installation of the barriers in 2019 at the request of staff, Council ultimately went against a staff recommendation to remove them in June 2021.

The concrete dividers were designed to cut a short cut linking Uplands Dr. to Rock City Rd. but lasted just a couple of years and were deemed successful in reducing traffic volumes by upwards of 70 per cent, however they failed to stop another issue at the site of illegal left hand turns onto Rock City Rd.

Now the City is back at square one.

They have a road which meets the criteria for traffic calming, but the recommendation from experts on the subject was literally ripped from the ground.

The fact this issue has been anything but unanimous is also telling of the complexity. Votes to keep the barriers in November 2020 and eventually remove them in May 2020 were both by 5-4 margins.

So what will happen next? Does the addition of more speed bumps solve the problem of traffic volume? Would the City try a different type of barrier at the site to more effectively prevent left hand turns? Or does the solution lay elsewhere?

The City is planning in the long-term to add traffic infrastructure on Uplands Rd. at Departure Bay Rd., something which could make the shortcut through Opal Rd. less enticing.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

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