COQUITLAM, BC, February 29, 2024 – As Coquitlam works to build a safe, accessible and connected transportation network, members of the community are invited to learn more and share feedback on proposed improvements to Nelson Street.
In 2023, staff presented to Council a draft 2050 Micromobility Network – developed as part of the update to the Strategic Transportation Plan – which aims to respond to the emerging and popular use of micromobility (i.e. bicycles, scooters and their electrified forms). Building an expanded and connected active transportation network supports not only the City’s transportation goals, but also important objectives around sustainability, community health and economic development.
The Nelson Street improvements is one of several active transportation projects currently planned for Southwest Coquitlam.
Proposed Nelson Street Improvements
Nelson Street is a 1.7-kilometre local street that runs north-south, connecting the growing Austin Heights and Maillardville neighbourhoods. The street is identified in numerous City plans as an important corridor for transportation improvements because it serves as a connection to parks, neighbourhood centres, existing and future active transportation, and transit routes.
The proposed project runs between Blue Mountain Park and Mackin Park, with a possible future connection to IKEA, and transit stops via a creek crossing at Mackin Park and a new crossing at Lougheed Highway.
Improvements would bring greater safety and accessibility for users through enhancements including continuous sidewalks, a safe travel space for people to bike or scoot and improved intersections and crossings including curb ramps for wheelchairs or strollers. There are also plans for aesthetic improvements such as benches, street trees, lighting and landscaping. On-street parking pockets will also be created in select locations where the demand is high.
Learn More and Share Feedback
Interested community members, area businesses and active transportation users are invited to a drop-in information session:
- When: Thursday, March 7 from 4 to 7:30 p.m.
- Where: Maillardville Community Centre (1200 Cartier Ave.) in Room 1
Additional information on the project, including proposed renderings, is available at LetsTalkCoquitlam.ca/NelsonStreet. There is also an opportunity to subscribe for email updates.
An open community survey will be available on the project webpage between March 5 and 22, 2024.
Feedback from the public as well as from residents and businesses along the route will be considered along with technical studies, engineering standards, best practices, available budget, and other approved City plans and strategies to refine the design that will be presented later this year to Council.
Active Transportation in Coquitlam
Active transportation includes all human-powered forms of travel, like walking, and the use of micromobility devices or mobility aids. Electric micromobility devices such as electric bicycles and electric kick scooters are also considered alongside these purely human-powered forms of travel. They offer the potential to expand active travel options, allowing people to cover greater distances and “flatten” steep hills.
As part of the update to Coquitlam’s Strategic Transportation Plan, the vision for the City’s micromobility network is to provide a safe, convenient and comfortable network for people of all ages and abilities (sometimes called ‘Triple A’) that supports all trip purposes to go from Anywhere to Everywhere.
Through the development of the Strategic Transportation Plan, members of the public consistently shared that they would be interested in using active transportation mode more, but also shared that road safety, traffic speed and dangerous drivers (40% of respondents) as well as the absence of protected bicycle lanes or crossings (38% of respondents) were major barriers.
Building a network that safely supports all ages and abilities proactively considers accessibility for a wide demographic of users including seniors, children, youth and people with mobility challenges. These efforts also serve our diverse community by incorporating an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion lens as we deliver active transportation infrastructure.
About Coquitlam’s Updated Strategic Transportation Plan
The City adopted the current Strategic Transportation Plan in 2012. Since then the City has made modest progress increasing sustainable transportation in Coquitlam such as walking, cycling, scooting and public transit. There has also been significant changes in transportation over the last ten years, including the addition of the Evergreen SkyTrain Line, consideration of different kinds of street users, and emerging technologies to address climate change mitigation and adaptation.
A new Strategic Transportation Plan, currently in development, will provide a refreshed long-term vision for Coquitlam’s transportation network with a focus on prioritizing key actions and policy changes for the next 10 years. It will also align with other City plans such as the recently adopted Environmental Sustainability Plan and the Economic Development Strategy.
The updated Strategic Transportation Plan will be developed through five phases spanning approximately two years and will also include two key sub-strategies: a Road Safety Strategy to provide a dedicated roadmap to enhance road safety within our community and an Electric Mobility Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by advancing the electrification of transportation.
Learn more at coquitlam.ca/TransportationPlan.
Media contact
Thomas Thivener
Transportation Planning Manager
NelsonStreet@coquitlam.ca
604-927-3500
We acknowledge with gratitude and respect that the name Coquitlam was derived from the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (HUN-kuh-MEE-num) word kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (kwee-KWET-lum) meaning “Red Fish Up the River”. The City is honoured to be located on the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm traditional and ancestral lands, including those parts that were historically shared with the q̓ic̓əy̓ (kat-zee), and other Coast Salish Peoples.