Construction will start on Nelson’s new transit exchange this spring and will be completed by the end of July.
The exchange will be located in the 300 block of Victoria Street, moved from the current location on the 500 block Ward Street. It will be a hub for both urban and regional buses.
“This has been a longstanding need as the current transit hub and Ward and Baker no longer meets the increasing transit needs of the community,” said Elise Wren, B.C. Transit’s government relations manager for the Kootenays, at Nelson City Council’s Feb. 20 meeting.
She said the city and BC transit chose the 300 block of Victoria “based on continuity with downtown, future transit routing, current traffic, parking needs, and topography.”
Wren said the transit exchange will include:
• Five bus bays (parallel with the street) with possible future expansion to six
• Two lighted bus shelters with glass walls
• A mid-block crosswalk
• Improved street lighting
• A public restroom at the existing planted area outside the library at the corner of Stanley and Victoria Streets
• Bike racks and water fountains
• New sidewalks
• Public parallel parking on the west end of the block
The $2.4-million project is being funded 40 per cent by the federal government and 40 per cent by the province through grants. The city and the Regional District will pay the remaining 20 per cent ($480,000) to B.C. Transit in instalments over 15 years, according to David Lenton, BC Transit’s project manager of carbon and on-street infrastructure.
The transit exchange has been under discussion at the city since it started inviting public input on its Downtown Urban Design Strategy in 2017. The city and BC Transit share the responsibility for transit planning within Nelson.
In 2020, when the city announced its intention to locate the exchange on the 300 block Victoria, there ensued two years of back-and-forth with four local businesses and one resident worried about the loss of parking. There was also a concern about the public washroom (originally planned for the west end of the block) and the possibility that it would attract street people and crime.
The city and B.C. Transit stated at the time that they had considered six other locations for the exchange and found that the 300 block of Victoria was most suited.
The current design for the exchange will reduce the number of parking spaces on the 300 block Victoria from 18 to five, Lenton told the Nelson Star.
But the intention is to make up those lost spaces by re-configuring parking in the 200 block on Victoria and on Kootenay, Falls and Stanley Streets, he told council. Also, the site of the current bus exchange on Ward Street and around the corner on Baker Street will be freed up for vehicle parking.
The idea is to reconfigure parking, not lose it, Lenton said.
Councillor Rik Logtenberg, who is the chair of the West Kootanay regional transit committee, told the Nelson Star that the transit system has outgrown the cramped quarters at Ward and Baker, with awkward configurations of buses approaching and leaving that corner.
He said the new exchange is to create smoother transitions between routes, such as when switching between the Uphill route and the Nelson-to-Castlegar route. The new exchange will make it more comfortable, with seating, shelters, washrooms and a crosswalk.
“It’s the whole experience,” he said. “The new exchange will create a better experience that makes it more likely that people will choose transit.
“And that is better for everybody. Everyone who is out of a car and onto a bus means less traffic, less conflicts with parking and ultimately less pollution.”
Logtenberg said the exchange will also help people who have no choice but to take the bus, either because they are incapable of driving, are too young to drive, or can’t afford a car. Such people deserve an improved transit experience, he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that there would be six bus bays at the new transit hub. The correct number is five, but perhaps expanded to six in the future.