Auto Mall Planned for West End

Sunday, October 28, 2007 04:39 PM

Northland Dodge is planning a public consultation night for the "Auto Mall" that it hopes to establish on Highway 16 west, next to where the Red Cedar Motel used to be.

According to the plans, the site will not only be home to the new Nissan dealership, but there would be room for a small import dealer, and the bulk of the site would be for a Northland Dodge dealership. There is no indication of what would become of the existing Northland Dodge dealership on Highway 16 at 20th Avenue.

According to the documents circulated by L&M Engineering, the proposed site is designed to service residents throughout north central B.C. The site development represents an investment of $26,5 million dollars and if approved would create 105 jobs.

The proposal also sets out a plan for a small subdivision .

If approved ,the development , says L&M , would "create the opportunity for traffic signals to be installed at Highway 16 West and Kimball road, as well as the development of a frontage road bwtween the Bon Voyage Plaza and Henry Road. The improvements, say L&M, would "improve the safety of the local road network and direct commercial traffic away from existing residential areas.

The open house for public consultation is set for Tuesday, October 30th at the Bon Voyage Banquet Room from 7-9 p.m.

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Posted on Sunday, October 28, 2007 04:39 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: owl on October 28 2007 11:18 PM

"�. create the OPPORTUNITY for traffic signals to be installed at Highway 16 West and Kimball road"

WOW!!!! an opportunity I am sure we would not want to miss!

Surely they mean NECESSITY. Anytime it is a necessity to put another traffic light on a highway going through a City, it reduces the effectiveness of that road as a highway.

I cannot see that this is something to celebrate. It cannot be hidden with the corruption of the English language.

How many more traffic lights are going to be introduced on this interprovincial highway as the City expands?

Posted by: Chadermando on October 28 2007 11:28 PM

More lights stopping traffic along the College Heights part of Highway 16 should be a no go from the start. PG already has more lights to get through town than any other city its size in North America. Worse yet some are badly designed. The one at Westgate forces commercial highway traffic to stop for a single car and then have to lift off from a stop on a 10% grade with 60 tons on black ice.

Maybe the city should look at getting rid of the Westgate lights if they want to add more lights only a block away IMO.

Currently a truck going west to (north or east) going through PG has to expense maintenence and operating costs (time, wages, fuel) for 14 stop lights. Make it 15 stop lights if this dealership is approved. Most communities are designed to utilize a few over passes or have some form of ring road to facilitate efficient highway commerce.

The PG mentality seems to be to make all highway traffic stop as much as possilbe and funnel it all into city streets in the hope they will drop some change as they drive by. Contrast this with the city retoric that we are an emerging logistics center for efficient movement of goods?

I think when all is said and done the city will approve of this new stop light and the local kids will have yet another location to play with stopping traffic for kicks....

Time Will Tell

Posted by: camoose on October 28 2007 11:37 PM

Wow, an opportunity for traffic lights. The road between Bon Voyage and Henry Road is already there. It just needs to be paved.
The old saw about the number of jobs to be created is once again used. If Northland moves west will these 105 jobs be new jobs or just relocated from the 20th Ave Northland location? Call me old fashioned but I'm not a huge fan of car dealers. Traffic is already bad enough on 16 west with logging trucks and chip trucks. In this case I don't think more is better.

Posted by: BCRacer on October 29 2007 5:26 AM

My question is a little different....do we really need an "Auto Mall"?
Northland moves out to the new area and what happens to the present dealership? a Bingo hall or Casino? I know bad joke...

Posted by: Andyfreeze on October 29 2007 9:24 AM

What?...people are supposed to be excited by this?
More traffic snarls and backlogs to deal with and very little benefit.
Whoopie...

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on October 29 2007 10:31 AM

Too bad about the traffic light, but it's good to see more construction and investment in PG.

Posted by: kitkat on October 29 2007 12:56 PM

Nortland Dodge sucks, I'll still buy somewhere else!

Posted by: furtree on October 29 2007 2:03 PM

Far better off with a U-GO, or the new station wagon,the, WE-GO.

Posted by: owl on October 29 2007 2:32 PM

Seems every time we get more than one car dealer relocating, we call it an automall.

I don't think people in PG understand what a real automall looks like. Put all autodealers in PG together in one location and we could call it an automall.

Posted by: NMG on October 29 2007 4:56 PM

Have to agree with pretty much everyone!

The investment and construction is great, adding the additional light is just plain ridiculous.

Posted by: Harbinger on October 29 2007 7:46 PM

Too many traffic lights going thru Nanaimo, so they built the island highway to go around them, I believe. Enormous cost, too. I know that fer sure. I'm a taxpayer.

Posted by: steeliepete on October 29 2007 9:21 PM

So, who pays for the construction? It damn well better not be me!!! I think Northland should pay the whole shot if the city goes ahead with it. Or godforbid, they shut down the stupid plan and restructure what they've already got.

By the way, the comment about the light at Westgate stopping trucks on a 10% grade is bang-on!!! I can't believe they did that. They could have diverted that traffic down to the Wal-mart area.

See you at the public consultation....right?

Posted by: Chadermando on October 30 2007 2:20 PM

Anyone notice how L&M sees no need for the Ospika extension and overpass, because it is not proximate to their land developments, but would rather have stop lights on the highway at inappropriate locations like Westgate because their developments need priority.

Obviously an overpass at Ospika would negate the need for a light at Westgate as well as eleviate the traffic problems along Peden Hill. I would think that would be the cities biggest priority South and West of the city, but then L&M takes priority it seems....

Posted by: Andyfreeze on October 30 2007 9:04 PM

The term "Auto Mall" seems to be just an evasive,politically correct up word, that someone coined to make these projects seem more people friendly and hopefully,help them in the approval process perhaps.
It is still car dealers doing what they do no matter what you call it..
So whats the big deal?