The Terminal Ave Nicol Street Streetscape Project draft report has been issued. I’m disappointed in it and critical of it. Here’s why —
Our City Council will be told that this plan will result in a charming, distinct gateway with improved connections to neighbourhoods; it will be safe for everyone, a pleasant place to walk day or night; it will be a vibrant socially and economically successful Main Street environment; and it will continue to be a 4 lane Provincial highway feeding inter-city traffic volumes through city neighbourhoods to and from the Departure Bay ferry terminal.
Sounds great. But it’s an impossibility. The plan heading to Council should include examples from anywhere in the world of these conflicting elements working together harmoniously. I don’t know of one.
Other cities have had to recognize that
you have to choose between a highway and a city street.
A powerful unseen hand at work. The City-funded Committee ($100,000 from City of Nanaimo, Economic Development and the Downtown BIA) Terms of Reference calls for a "streetscape plan framed within the ‘Complete Streets’ paradigm.” It also makes clear that the study area "is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) ... and ultimately any changes to the roadway will require MoTI approval." The task then assumed by the Committee is make an inter-city Provincial highway that links to a BC Ferries terminal in a residential neighbourhood a “complete street." Quite a challenge. The first powerful unseen hand is at work in the framing of the Terms of Reference. It’s unclear to me if this is a Council initiative or originates with the Downtown BIA or Senior Staff including the Traffic Engineering Department.
A lively grassroots initiative on one segment held a one day demonstration project with on-street parking, 2 travel lanes, traffic calming and numerous pedestrian sidewalk activities. This initiative was absorbed into the BIA’s plan to address the derelict Terminal Ravine area in our downtown core.
What are Complete Streets? Let's use this definition adopted by cities across North America. A Complete Street is designed for all ages, abilities, and modes of travel. On Complete Streets, safe and comfortable access for pedestrians, bicycles, transit users and people with disabilities is not an afterthought, but an integral planning feature.
A Complete Streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire street network for all road users, not only motorists. More at: http://completestreetsforcanada.ca/what-are-complete-streets. Here’s an illustration of a complete street and one of the proposed Nicol Street improvements.
Doesn't look like a complete street to me. Along the length of the corridor there is no proposed inclusion of any use but private automobiles and trucks. The addition of time-of-day parking to a highway doesn’t make a complete street by any measure. Maintaining this highway comes at the expense of our neighbourhoods and continued downtown revitalization. It’s in our community’s best interest to incorporate bus priority lanes (ideally dedicated Bus Rapid Transit) and protected bike lanes. There is no reason within 66' of right of way these modes cannot be incorporated.More on powerful unseen hands at work. Technocratic silos inside our City Halls (and in this case the BC Ministry of Transportation) who feel they know what's best for us and and that as former City of Vancouver Chief Planner Brent Toderian says, they feel they have a veto over other city priorities and goals. Read more at Planetizen powerful silos inside our city halls.
If all you have is a hammer,— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) November 7, 2016
everything looks like a nail.#TrafficEngineering explained...https://t.co/rgyowsUBIv
Locals, and especially current City Councillors, will recall the painful Colliery Dam Park social disruption caused by misguided—and faulty— technical and engineering work done by City and BC technocrats. Here seems to me there's very similar powerful unseen hands at work.
So the highway or a city street? The City of Nanaimo should not spend any further money on this plan. (Take a look at the cost estimates included in the draft document. You won't know whether to laugh or weep.) As long as this is a BC highway, immediate attention should instead be directed to the creation of actual “complete streets” on Front Street and Wallace Street.
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