Nanaimo Tees Up the Next Wasteful, Neighbourhood-Destroying Roadbuilding Project

Second only to the Island Highway, Bowen Road is another destructive, dangerous, neighbourhood-killing arterial stroad. This latest project brings to something approaching $20 million spent or to be spent on Bowen Road to address "congestion" at two intersections. Nanaimo seems to think it can be the one city in the world that can road-build its way out the problems created by the car. You may not be surprised to learn that this approach has produced no evidence of its efficacy. This first graphic identifies the problems as perceived by the Traffic Engineers: collisions, congestion, access, volumes, configurations:

In the second graphic the solutions brought to these problems are identified as "Planning Process Outcome". Problems that were concentrated on Bowen Road will be happily dispersed across the neighbourhood where they will apparently disappear. 

I asked City Councillor George Anderson, Chair of the Transportation Committee which is currently quarterbacking a Transportation Master Plan for detail (cost, maps, rationale, part played in the Transportation Master Plan etc) of the Boxwood Road / Bowen Rd project. He received and relayed this response from staff: (emphasis mine)

"Bowen Road and Northfield Road are arterial roads in the City network. The intersection of Bowen / Northfield has the highest collision history of any City owned intersection and is one of the most congested. The attached maps provide good information.

This project is intended to provide a long term solution to safety issues, traffic growth, access configurations and property development issues in the surrounding area.  The project will support the development of the surrounding area as an urban neighbourhood and mixed use centre that supports the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and public transit.  The main component of the plan is the development of an additional network link to reduce the demand through the Bowen / Northfield intersection. 

The Bowen Northfield intersection was identified for improvement in the late 90's. Since that time the City has monitored traffic volume and flow and has had design input sessions with businesses and residents in the area. 

The current cost estimate for design and construction of this project, which includes the Boxwood Road Connector and Northfield Road Improvements, is $6.9 million and this is almost entirely funded through Development Cost Charges. 

The current timing has the project construction scheduled for 2016 in the 5 Year Financial Plan. 

This project was determined to be a priority before the Transportation Master Plan process was initiated and significant money has already been spent to move this project forward. However, the Transportation Master Plan will consider the priority and scope of this project along with other Transportation Projects. "

If you haven't already, pause and think carefully about the second paragraph in the Traffic Engineers' response. Road-builders are going to create an "urban neighbourhood and mixed use centre that supports the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and public transit." This is of course terrific news if you happen to think they have any idea what they're talking about.  They just need one more "network link to reduce the demand" and we're the next Copenhagen. Some days you just fear for the English language.

Here's Peter Ladner commenting on Frances Bula's blog:

"Let’s put ALL the transportation projects into one pile, not just the transit ones. Let’s assume transit had as easy and unquestioning access to provincial money as highways and (some) bridges. Then let’s evaluate each project by agreed-upon criteria (people moved, capital costs, operating costs, economic impact, congestion reduction, health costs, environmental impact, land use impact, goods-movement, impact on other modes…) and prioritize the ones that rank highest. ... Remember, there’s just one taxpayer."

Note Ladner mentions people moved, not cars. I think he needs to accept that congestion reduction is an illusory goal. You can't road-build your way out of congestion. His criteria  cover important ground here but importantly, he misses the harm or benefits to our neighbourhoods.