Speeding, noise enforcement requested in Nanaimo’s Departure Bay

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

Anna McKenzie addressing Nanaimo City Council.

housing plan

Contentious Englishman River area development revised

2h ago

Community lobby

Speeding, noise enforcement requested in Nanaimo's Departure Bay

3h ago

wildfire start

Wildfire sparked north of Duncan, minimal growth overnight

6h ago

She said an online petition she organized has 200 signatures, accompanied by 100 testimonials, with her advocacy endorsed by the Departure Bay Neighbourhood Association.

“I will not allow my 13-year-old to take my two younger (children) to Departure Bay playground because I have simply witnessed too many close calls and reckless drivers.”

Two teenagers in a marked crosswalk were recently hit by an inattentive driver on Departure Bay Rd. in front of the Drip Coffee cafe.

The 13 and 16-year-olds had minor injuries, while the careless driver was ticketed under the Motor Vehicle Act for failing to yield.

Other incidents of pedestrians hit by vehicles near Departure Bay Beach in recent years included a 13-year-old boy seriously injured after he was struck in a marked crosswalk at Loat St. in November 2024.

The speed limit in the area is 40 kilometres per hour.

City councillor Sheryl Armstrong, a former local RCMP officer, said these challenges aren’t exclusive to the Departure Bay area.

“The problem we have there is it’s not just your area, I live up off of Hammond Bay, and there’s speeding there every day. Songbird (Nanaimo North Town Centre parking lot), they’re in the malls, drag racing constantly. It’s all over and the police have very limited resources.”

The Departure Bay area is popular for pedestrians heading to the beach or playground. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Stating that conversations surrounding Departure Bay traffic calming have been discussed for many years, City of Nanaimo transportation manager Jamie Rose said they will need new information.

“Obviously, something has taken place to change that and rekindle the issue, and so we’ll need to go back out and update our data to understand if there has been a change, or if there’s something else going on.”

Rose said the advisory 30 kilometre an hour speed limit was changed to a regulatory 40 km/h during the summer, which was maintained year-round, however he said the change “didn’t get great results” in terms of slowing down speeds.

Concrete dividers were added along the road to create a narrowing effect, but ended up creating operational challenges for the City and were removed, Rose stated.

As for the suggestion for raised crosswalks in the area, Rose said that wouldn’t be their first choice, stating the corridor is a key route for emergency vehicles.

“Also, being that this is a major road, we’d want to do a fairly thorough engagement with the community to understand both locally and regionally what the changes we’re proposing to do will do.”

Departure Bay Rd. has seen traffic calming, active transportation enhancements over the last several years, including near Departure Bay and Rock City elementary schools.

Nanaimo RCMP impounded several vehicles and dirt bikes during a blitz last September focused on racers and defective vehicles.

Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.

info@nanaimonewsnow.com

Follow us on: Twitter (X) | Bluesky | Facebook