Council will receive the E&N Rail Trail Top Bridge Crossing to Despard Avenue Engagement Plan report, which outlines public consultation for a new trail segment linking Top Bridge Park to Despard Avenue in the Regional District of Nanaimo. This is the initial step before a summer 2026 public engagement period and online survey, with a What We Heard report and concept design returning to the Committee of the Whole on September 29, 2026. Detailed design and tender would follow.
The crossing creates a safer, off-highway connection that eliminates the current at-grade crossing of the Alberni Highway near Parksville, according to the RDN's general manager of recreation and parks, cited by Parksville Qualicum Beach News (https://www.pqbnews.com/local-news/rdn-board-endorses-top-bridge-park-trail-link-for-coombs-to-parksville-rail-trail-7947880). The project is part of the broader E&N rail corridor trail network, though several media references conflate this RDN segment with the CRD's E&N Rail Trail further south in Victoria, Esquimalt, View Royal, and Langford — a separate governing jurisdiction. The geographic distinction matters: this is an RDN project in the Parksville-Coombs area, not the West Shore.
The engagement plan signals a summer 2026 public consultation window. If the timeline holds, the concept design reaches committee by end of September 2026, placing detailed design in Q4 2026 to Q1 2027 and a tender call no earlier than mid-2027. The scope involves trail construction, bridge or crossing infrastructure, and highway interface work — a civil package that would bundle earthworks, paving, and potential structural components. No funding approval or budget figure appears in the current report; that may arrive with the concept design.
The engagement outcome will determine whether the alignment through to Despard Avenue and Springwood Park encounters property-access or neighbourhood resistance. The Alberni Highway crossing is the engineering crux, and the concept design will reveal whether a grade-separated structure or an at-grade controlled crossing is proposed. That choice drives the cost envelope and the contract structure. A September 2026 committee endorsement without significant redesign would position the project for a construction season start in 2028.
A council approval application has been submitted for an undisclosed address in the Regional District of Nanaimo, B.C. The applicant is listed as "an applicant." The application is scheduled for review at a council meeting on May 19, 2026. No outcome has been reported.