The $7.2-million cost to build a two-kilometre stretch of E&N trail is “horrendous” and a hard pill to swallow for Coun. Jerry Hong, who voted to shelve the project Monday.
Nanaimo city council agreed to hold off on construction of a section of E&N pathway between Franklyn and Seventh streets and release the money set aside for the project back into reserves until there’s more certainty on the future of rail.
In 2014, city council set aside $50,000 to do preliminary design, including routing work and cost estimates, for trail between Franklyn Street and Seventh Street, anticipated to be more challenging and more costly than existing segments of the trail, a city staff report shows. It also supported development of the trail by 2019 and agreed to match funding up to $100,000 with the charity, Nanaimo Region Rail Trail Partnership, to help unite sections of the E&N pathway.
A new staff report on the results of the study say challenges include steep slopes, drainage, and six at-grade railroad crossings, which each could cost between $800,000 and $2 million because of new federal regulations. The route found during the study would cost $7.2 million.
Coun. Ian Thorpe proposed endorsing the route, saying he’d like the project to move ahead. He doesn’t want to see the report simply received, shelved and then have the whole project disappear, he said.
Coun. Diane Brennan also supported the route, saying it’s been in the works for some time and she believes the community supports it and is looking for the trail. Neither did she believe the rail issue will be unravelled within a couple of years.
But others expressed concern about cost and the possibility of alternatives. Council struck down the motion to endorse the trail and instead voted 5-3 to receive the report and wait for more certainty on rail.
“I can’t support this project overall. It’s not that I am against trails, it’s just the cost is just horrendous. Two kilometres for over $7 million,” said Hong.“We should just shelve it, just ignore it, receive this for information and move on because it’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Hong also pointed out the city has deferred a high-volume traffic corridor project at Northfield Road because of the uncertainty of rail and doing the same with the trail is the right thing to do. City council postponed safety upgrades to the intersection at Boundary Avenue, Northfield Road and Highway 19A in May for up to a year to see what happens with passenger rail.
Coun. Bill Bestwick pointed out that the city finished a strategic and capital planning priority session and he didn’t hear anyone strongly advocating for construction of the trail.
“I want 5,000 more transit hours, we want more transit hours from Cinnabar, we want more ice cream ... well, we can’t afford more ice cream,” he said. “Where’s the eight-million bucks going to come from? What do you want to knock off, councillors?
“What do you want to take out of the equation to do the two … kilometres?”
Andre Sullivan, past chairman of the Nanaimo Regional Rail Trail Partnership, said his group wanted the study to take place, which shows where the trail should go, but expected this outcome. It doesn’t throw off the organization’s plans, which will put its capital toward whatever municipality makes the rail trail a priority.
“The charity that I’m working with isn’t exclusively focused on Nanaimo. We’re in the Regional District of Nanaimo, so we’re talking with Parksville, Coombs and Lantzville about how to use our capital for their sections,” he said.