The City of Parksville engineering department will be busy this year with numerous projects planned for 2025 and 2026, including improvements for Stanford Avenue.
The Stanford Avenue project, scheduled to begin in 2026, will include a "comprehensive renewal" of Stanford between McCarter Street and Shelly Road, according to an April 9 presentation to council by Manager of Engineering Ayla Defoor.
“This is a significant length of roadway so this project would be likely over years, depending on budget,” said Defoor, who added the city would work on "modular" sections, as budgets allow.
The Stanford Avenue project may include linear rain gardens running along the roadside and could be eligible for ICBC grant funding, she added.
“This has been identified by the public as an alternative east west route for cyclists and active transportation modes, removing them from kind of the highway melee onto Stanford,” Defoor said.
The project list includes sidewalk and active transportation improvements for Alberni Highway, between Stanford Avenue and Lee Avenue (2025); Weld Street sidewalk renewal (2025); the Transportation Master Plan (2025), the Stormwater Master Plan (2025); the Parksville Pathway Project (2026); a new public parking lot, to be located at 149 Stanford Ave E on vacant land east of the lawn bowling club (2026) and Jensen Avenue utility and road renewal, with sidewalk addition (2026/2027).
Ongoing projects include pavement overlay projects, bus stop improvements and new crosswalk installations, with one planned on Alberni Highway at Bernard Avenue and Dunbar Way, and another for Hirst Street and Lodgepole Drive.
The city's engineering department is expected to be fully staffed as of June, according to Defoor, who said that will be the first time that has happened since 2019.
