A school zone on Uplands Dr. was highlighted as one which contradicts the Motor Vehicle Act and may not technically be enforceable by RCMP. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

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Council exploring permanent 30km/h bubbles around select Nanaimo schools

Nov 25, 2025 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — Balancing public safety with the confines of the Motor Vehicle Act and some quirky local streets is behind a pending review of local school zones.

Beginning early next year, City staff and councillors will review selected schools and how school zones are applied to the main routes kids take to and from class, with the goal of replacing curated road-specific school zones with a blanket 30 kilometre per hour ‘bubble’ for a 400 metre radius around a school.

Jamie Rose, City manager of roads and transportation, told members of Council during their Monday, Nov. 24 governance and priorities meeting, the need to review is borne by the scope of the Motor Vehicle Act, which actually renders some currently signed school zones largely un-enforceable.

“The Motor Vehicle Act is very, very prescriptive as to where speed-reduced school zones can be applied. It is quite explicit to the frontage of a school, and so anything beyond that really is not eligible, which makes it very challenging for the members of our detachment to enforce.”

Rose pointed to both Uplands Elementary and École Hammond Bay as two areas where school zones are signed, but not necessarily abiding by the Motor Vehicle Act, as both schools sit just off their respective main roads.

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He said it creates a situation where the zones aren’t necessarily ignored, but there is an “inconsistency” in understanding from drivers.

“They’re quite displaced from the school. It’s not to say that these school zones are explicitly ignored, but there’s definitely an inconsistency and a challenge for drivers to understand what they should be doing and where they should be doing it, and subsequently, whether or not the RCMP can in fact enforce it.”

An example under the proposed changes would see a 30 kilometre zone established around Cinnabar Valley Elementary School, instead of just on the roads bordering the actual property, as outlined by the Motor Vehicle Act. (City of Nanaimo)

The first batch of schools due for Council consideration and discussion will come in the spring, with the view of installing signage over the summer ahead of a return to class in September.

Some zones would be “fairly straightforward”, according to Rose, while others would require a little more thought and consideration.

The 400 metre zones would have the reduced speed in place 24 hours a day, which also creates some challenges.

Rose acknowledged the chance for people to speed through during early morning, late night or weekend times.

“Are we going to see people travelling through at a higher rate? Or exceeding the speed limit because it doesn’t feel like it should be a slow road? Whereas something like…the roads around Fairview where it’s 100 per cent residential neighborhood, and it should feel slower and should be slower all the time.”

Council had initially defaulted to Motor Vehicle Act standards in past discussions on the issue, which also used a scoring matrix to judge which areas required a school zone and which didn’t.

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