Business owners and residents voiced opposition to a new transit exchange on Terminal Avenue as the City of Nanaimo looks to firm up redevelopment plans downtown.
Public safety advocates and members of the business community spoke at a rally Sunday, Feb. 12, in the parking lot behind the QueenB次元官网网址檚, a potential future location for the downtown transit exchange.
At a city finance meeting this Wednesday, Feb. 15, councillors will be asked to recommend increasing the project budget by $1.4 million for Phase 1 corridor upgrades along Terminal. Re-locating the transit exchange from Front Street to Terminal Avenue was previously studied by the city, and remains in the plans.
B次元官网网址淲e feel a transit exchange here will unfortunately bring more social disorder,B次元官网网址� said rally organizer Kevan Shaw.
He talked about some of the recent crime in the area and said the city, in its decision-making, should resist the lure of partial project funding from other levels of government.
B次元官网网址淥ur lives, your lives, the people who wait for and ride buses, the businesses, the residents in this area, our lives and our futures are priceless,B次元官网网址� he said.
Collen Middleton, spokesperson for the Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association, also brought up the increased crime severity in the city and said he doesnB次元官网网址檛 think a transit exchange downtown could be designed in a way to mitigate public safety concerns right now.
B次元官网网址淯ntil the province is able to get a handle on the escalating social disorder in the south downtown through judicial policies and mental health and addictions treatment solutions, thereB次元官网网址檚 no justifiable reason to put a downtown exchange at this very spot,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淯ntil this area feels safe again for all NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 residents, this transit exchange will only further concentrate the issues of violence.B次元官网网址�
Jason Flett, manager of the Terminal Bar, has experience working in the social service sector in Nanaimo and said people who are unhoused and canB次元官网网址檛 access resources tend to be the ones who gather in public spaces like transit exchanges. He said bus shelters have become increasingly unsafe and said transit users donB次元官网网址檛 feel safe catching the bus at the Front Street exchange and are using other bus stops instead.
B次元官网网址淚 think all of us are about solutions that work,B次元官网网址� Flett said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not anti-anything, weB次元官网网址檙e about whatB次元官网网址檚 going to work long-term and whatB次元官网网址檚 going to make us feel safe and whatB次元官网网址檚 going to attract people to come to Nanaimo.B次元官网网址�
Jerry Hong, owner of the QueenB次元官网网址檚, said Nanaimo needs to fix other problems and pursue other solutions before B次元官网网址渏umping the gunB次元官网网址� and moving the transit exchange with what he suggested has been insufficient planning.
READ ALSO:
Dave Lawrence, president of the Victoria Crescent Association, said he never usually feels unsafe downtown, but felt unsafe waiting for a bus at the Front Street transit exchange recently.
B次元官网网址淚 love the movie Mad Max, but to live it in real life, it is scary,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淵ou see people walking around with weapons, itB次元官网网址檚 literally, B次元官网网址榙oes that guy have a trident? Yes, he does have a trident. That guy has a baseball bat with nails in it? YepB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 frightening and I do not want that near our businesses here. Victoria Crescent has dealt with enough over the past couple years. We do not need the bus loop here at all.B次元官网网址�
City staff told the B次元官网网址 Bulletin this past fall that plans to move the bus exchange to Terminal Avenue would be dependent on co-ordinating plans and funding with the Regional District of Nanaimo and B.C. Transit.
READ ALSO:
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on and follow us on
