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Gov’t proceeds with caution on Cathedral Grove MIKE YOUDS Special to the News
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From left to right: Rita Fristak, Barbara Sort, Caroline Warn, Susan Wall, Janice Konkin and Lois Powell enjoyed a Promenade, Picnic and Country Dance on Sunday, put on by the Central Vancouver Island Region of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This was the last event in the Jane Austen Days of Port Alberni 2019.
Options for improving pedestrian safety at Cathedral Grove include a pedestrian overpass, new parking areas west of the main grove and a centre barrier to prevent illegal turns. But a more costly, long-term option to ease the hazardous bottleneck through the park — a highway bypass widely favoured by valley residents — would not solve the main problem, according to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Ministry and provincial park staff hosted an open house on Thursday, June 20 at the Port Alberni Friendship Centre, unveiling the results of public input intended to fix the chronic congestion on Highway 4 where it bisects the old-growth attraction. Last fall’s first stage of public engagement yielded about 500 suggestions, said Peter Webber, transportation planner. Those were evaluated
and narrowed to a series of options based on environmental impacts on the old growth trees, costs and three key issues — pedestrians, traffic and parking, he said. “We’re not ruling out any options,” he said, including potential highway bypass routes north and south of the park. However, a bypass would not be completed within the established time frame of zero to five years and would not address the highway hazard, diverting only 10 to 20 percent of traffic. One such route is the Horne Lake Connector linking Hwy. 19 with Hwy. 4, a well-studied secondary corridor to Port Alberni with “significant capital costs” and environmental impacts. Three other route options would skirt the main grove through the park’s southeast ridge—steep, challenging and costly terrain for a highway. “While we’re not ruling it out, it’s not addressing the issue in the short term,” WebContinued on A5
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