Council wrestles with its transportation plan

Imagine the public outcry. West Kelowna’s master transportation plan included a proposed bypass road on the hills above the community, which would make the cut on the Coquihalla Connector look tame.

The transportation plan, which received a mostly cool reception at Tuesday night’s council meeting (see story page C9), showed a four-lane arterial road or highway that appeared to scar the hillsides near Smith Creek, Tallus Ridge and Shannon Woods before it dissected Rose Valley Regional Park en route to a second four-lane crossing of Okanagan Lake.

Perhaps such a bypass would have worked 10 or 20 years ago before development went gangbusters in West Kelowna’s neighbourhoods, but there’s no way it would work today.

Fortunately, the plan more appropriately recommended an alternative, which actually seems doable––the creation of a road connecting Rose Valley and Shannon Lake.

If done properly, such a road would provide an excellent pedestrian, transit and cycling link between the two neighbourhoods. With a future school and sports fields proposed for Rose Valley, and perhaps small retail centres added to both neighbourhoods, such a road would serve as an excellent means of taking some of the pressure off Highway 97.

The road could include traffic-calming measures like landscaped curb extensions, pedestrian crossing signals and the odd speed bump to ensure the corridor offers a more laid back traffic option, versus creating another speedway. Pedestrian paths and bike lanes could be set back from the roadside with landscaped buffers, including xeriscaping and solar-powered lighting.

The concept would be similar to what’s being done currently on Beach Avenue in Peachland and on Gellatly Road between Powers Creek Bridge and the Cove Resort.

The same concept could be repeated on Boucherie Road from Hudson or Stuart Road to Gellatly Road and again along the section of the Gellatly Road loop from the Westbank Centre to Whitworth Road.

Of course, even with grants and some development cost charges thrown in, the price of such improvements would be astronomical and it would probably take the new municipality 20 or 30 years to build enough cash reserves for the projects.

But once they were properly constructed, you can bet Boucherie Road and the Rose Valley/Shannon Lake connector would become hillside transportation corridors that would rival their waterfront equals.

As for Highway 97, the recommendations include high-occupancy vehicle lanes on the Westside to accommodate bus rapid transit. With a proposal in B.C. Transit’s 2035 service plan for 10-minute intervals between buses, you can bet HOV lanes on the Westside would come in handy, love them or hate them. Proposed transit exchanges at Elk Road, Westside Road and the Westbank and Boucherie Centres are also good ideas included in the plan.

In addition, the master transportation plan should include more left-hand turn signals and longer turning lanes along Highway 97 and the completion of connections from Nancee Way to Stevens Road and Stevens to Auburn Road on the south side of the highway, to take more traffic off Highway 97, which is the road that counts the most on the Westside.

The plan also can’t ignore the fact that improvements being constructed now on Westbank First Nation land to accommodate the Westside Road interchange will need to be repeated in some fashion in West Kelowna within the next five years for an interchange at Boucherie Road.

An interchange for the deadly Highway 97 and Hudson/Westlake Road intersection should also be considered.

Last but not least, the plan does propose an essential second access out of Glenrosa, going over Powers Creek to the Smith Creek subdivision and eventually out onto Shannon Lake Road.

Still, council felt the recommendations weren’t quite where it wanted them to be and the consultant working on the master transportation plan has been asked to come back with revisions. Let’s hope the plan, when done, puts West Kelowna on the right path for road improvements at a price we can all afford.

Staff Responses:

The Westside of Okanagan Lake concept is not considered economically viable by the MOT and is not considered a realistic alternative in the review of long term transportation options. Refer to the attached MOT correspondence on this matter (J.R. email dated Sept. 1/07 and Apr. 15/08).

Local mayors want three major highways projects tacked on to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation’s to-do list, including a second crossing of Okanagan Lake.

However, politicians clearly have a lot more lobbying to do before any work is done, based on the ministry’s feedback.

Okanagan MLAs, mayors, municipal staff and chambers of commerce representatives met with ministry officials over the weekend to hear a review of valley transportation projects completed over the past few years and to receive an update on projects currently underway.

The presentation was short on details about what future projects were in store for the Okanagan’s highways, however, according to West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater, “They didn’t really look forward to any great extent or lay out their cards on a pile of new projects.”

Since ministry staff was unwilling to talk about future improvements, Findlater said he figured he’d better chime in with West Kelowna’s proposal for the one-way Highway 97 couplet through Westbank.

“I felt I should seize an opportunity like this to at least speak up so it gets noticed,” said Findlater.

Council has talked informally about the possibility of turning the southbound one-way corridor, also known as Main Street, into a local two-way street.

The northbound one-way stretch, also known as Dobbin Road, would then become a four-lane or six-lane, two-way section of Highway 97.

Unfortunately ministry officials made no comments about the proposal, mentioned Findlater.

“They didn’t react, other than to note it.”

Another proposal that surfaced was a high elevation Highway 97 bypass around Peachland that would direct traffic from the Okanagan Connector to an area near Antler’s Beach on the other side of town.

Peachland Mayor Keith Fielding said the ministry seemed receptive to the plan.

“The ministry confirmed that both a four (lane widening) through Peachland and the highland bypasses were options that they would be considering,” said Fielding.

The ministry would give no project timelines nor would officials indicate how high a priority it was; but, given the B.C. government’s current fiscal restraints, Fielding said he was pleased the proposal was still on the province’s radar.

Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd also took the opportunity to bring up a second crossing of Okanagan Lake once more, even though the transportation ministry has been reluctant to entertain the idea since the Bennett Bridge was completed in May 2008.

“The ministry was saying to us, we’re not going to need a second crossing for way beyond 20 years,” said Shepherd.

“I didn’t hear that when the (Bennett) bridge opened up. I heard that we’d be looking a lot sooner than 20 years if the projections are correct about where the growth is occurring.”

Shepherd wanted the ministry to at least entertain securing land for a route so the city could start aligning its streets and making acquisitions accordingly.

However, the ministry’s reluctance to buy up land wasn’t surprising, she stated.

“They’ve just invested a whole lot of money in Highway 97 and they’re investing in Highway 33. So, I appreciate all that investment. But, I also like to think that we can plan further out.”

Findlater said he was disappointed with the ministry’s response concerning another lake crossing.

“At the rate the Central Okanagan is growing they need to put that (second crossing) on their 10- to 20-year horizon, even if it’s just something like a transit bridge. We’re going to be back to the same congestion on (Bennett) bridge again in 15 to 20 years.”

Shepherd said she hoped the ministry at least got the message that Okanagan municipalities want to get together to look at a variety of transportation options.

“If the ministry truly believes that we should be looking at alternatives to bypasses (and) to adding alternate highways to many of our communities then maybe we have to start to consider a rapid light rail plan.”

Vernon’s new official community plan is almost a done deal.

Council gave third reading to the revised 2008 OCP package Monday and it’s anticipated that the document will be adopted Oct. 14.

“It’s not perfect but it’s a good document,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham, adding that it tackles matters such as hillside development and pressing social issues.

The OCP will govern land use decisions for the community, and the content within it was a result of extensive work by city staff and consultants, as well as numerous public consultations over the last two years.

“I’ve never seen the amount of input,” said Cunningham.

“There will always be those who see themselves as winners and losers in the process but there is so much substance in this document.”

Cunningham has been pushing to have the proposed OCP finalized before November’s civic election.

“If we don’t adopt it before Nov. 15, all that hard work could go out the window. Single-issue candidates could derail it,” she said.

Lone opposition to the OCP proceeding came from Coun. Barry Beardsell, who is concerned the document doesn’t include preservation of a western bypass corridor.

“I can hold up my head in the future and say, ‘I was not responsible for terrible congestion,’” he said.

Beardsell also believes the OCP does not refer to parks enough, doesn’t provide a clear future for the airport and doesn’t encourage mobile home parks as a source of affordable housing.

In speaking to the media after Monday’s council meeting, Beardsell reiterated his objections to the OCP moving ahead.

“This is the worst council I’ve seen since I moved to Vernon and that was 1973,” he said.

A new aspect to the document is the city only considering OCP amendments and annexation applications once a year instead of the current process which can occur at any time.

“This way, you can consider the overall impact if they go forward,” said Kim Flick, planning and building services manager.

Flick added that the policy was developed in response to public concerns that the OCP is undermined by such amendments and annexation applications coming forward.

I have been involved with architecture and planning since 1955, graduating from UBC in 1960 with the degree of bachelor of architecture. I consider myself to be a green person, having skied and been active in outdoor activities since the early 1940s.

I spent several years on council in the City of North Vancouver during the early 1970s. I’ve been chair of the Devonian Foundation Committee charged with the beautification of downtown Cranbrook in the late 1970s.

Since 1981, I’ve been a charter member with the Vernon Centennial Beautification Committee, Greater Vernon Garden City Society, Vernon GreenStreets Society, and the Ribbons of Green Trails Society.

I was a member of the Okanagan Landing, then the City of Vernon advisory planning commission, as chair most of that approximately 25 years time.

During that time, I’ve watched Kelowna choke itself with traffic due to a lack of foresight and courage to do the right thing as far as moving vehicular traffic through their city is concerned.

I’ve seen many planning mistakes made over the years and I think removing the proposed western bypass land accumulation feature from the OCP ranks up there with one of the largest.

As you well know, the debate surrounding this major traffic issue has been going on for many years. In that time, I have heard of not one solution which is obviously superior to the one proposed, and which will negatively affect the least number of people.

We are talking long-term planning, where the solution will become increasingly expensive and disruptive to many more people as time passes.

My suggestion is that the OCP be changed back to a policy of land accumulation over time as earlier proposed. The best that could happen with the land, should it, by some unforeseen stroke of technology, or whatever, would be that the land would end up being a magnificent linear park, in many ways akin to Stanley Park in Vancouver.

As land is accumulated, it could be planted with trees and xeriscape material such that development of the roadway will not damage the best parts of it.

Then, if the bypass is needed, it could become the western parkway with the walking and bike paths providing a popular and most interesting route through the city, but clear of downtown congestion.

I believe this solution would be a magnificent legacy for the future well-being of Vernon. Without it, the legacy will be one of failure to act at a turning point in the life of Vernon. Please reconsider.

Charles Wills

There are 104,000 registered vehicles now in the Central Okanagan and increased growth will produce more emissions that can result in deteriorated air quality.

Ø A 1995 study by Levelton and Associates predicts that, by the year 2013, vehicles in the Central Okanagan will emit over 7,500 tonnes of fine particulates annually into the airshed from tire wear, brake linings, engine emissions and road dust. That works out to 20 tonnes daily.

Ø Outdoor air pollutants, primarily fine particles and ozone, are causing health problems in our region. About 10% of the population is considered most "at risk". If conditions worsen, the entire population will be affected to some degree.

The controversial western bypass has hit a roadblock at Vernon city hall.

A motion to protect the highway corridor in the 25-plus-year transportation plan ended in a three-three vote Monday at city council, meaning it was defeated.

The issue will return to council in two weeks after the city finds out if the Transportation Ministry has any interest in funding the project at some point.

Councillor Patrick Nicol was among the three against protecting the route, over concerns about the impact on neighborhoods.

"I think there's other options that make just as much sense and cost a whole lot less money and can actually function a lot better.

"You preserve critical neighborhoods, Mission Hill and Okanagan Landing, and overall, the public that attended those (input) hearings, voted against it, so if these hearings are going to have any kind of substance to them, you have to respect that."

Councillor Pat Cochrane and Mayor Wayne Lippert were also against protecting the corridor.

Councillors Barry Beardsell, Jack Gilroy and Juliette Cunningham were in favour.

Councillor Buffy Baumbrough was not at Monday's meeting.

Council spent close to two hours on the plan, including hearing staff's report and then debating it.

Several councillors, including Gilroy, called it the toughest decision they've had to make on council the last three years.

Meantime, council unanimously endorsed the other two parts of the plan covering the next 25 years.

Those call for more public transit, sidewalks and cycling lanes, along with extending 27-th Street through Polson Park.

The transit plan is to increase the city's yearly investment to $500,000 for the next ten years which would add a bus a year and increase the service.

Sidewalk installation spending will increase from the current $100,000 to $400,000 a year, allowing for the addition of 34 kilometers of sidewalk the next 20 to 30 years.

Bike and trail network spending will each rise from $100,000 to $200,000 annually, with ten trails added and 52 km of bike lanes.

Facts are needed

click article to read larger print
Letters article from the Vernon Morning Star April 6, 2008 page A9

If the city presents Vernon's western bypass facts for costs, route, overpasses or no overpasses and allows citizens to make the decisions, instead of council treating everyone like they are a child that does not know any better, maybe then the city could trust citizens to make the decision that is best for citizens.

I do not want a few on city council deciding for me, but instead I want pure democracy (citizens) to help make decisions. After all, council is made up of very few citizens to have the full responsibility to decide for all its citizens, and most often than not, council does not choose the wishes of the public. Instead, council wastes money choosing what they think is best, which may not be what the citizens think is best. With no information, citizens don't understand why council chose its decisions. Citizens don't like to be told. I wish government would stop with the dictatorship.

I keep hearing and reading in the newspaper that citizens don't understand. Well it's time the facts were available so that citizens can understand and can make decisions. If citizens had the same information that council has, then maybe citizens wouldn't be so upset when decisions are made that most citizens do not want but what may be for the better. It's hard to understand council's decisions when citizens don't have the facts. More communication is needed and not just at meetings.

Gas is expensive when you live 45 minutes from town. I don't understand why the city doesn't publish facts in the newspaper which many people read most weeks? Isn't it past time we had Internet voting as well? Most often than not, half the population is working so hard and have families that they need to take care of first that they don't have time to attend meetings, even when they do care passionately about a subject.

I feel city council should be required to do the work to find out what its citizens want by way of newspaper, online questionnaires, online voting, surveys, flyers, etc.

We pay the city employees and council, and I feel council shouldn't be telling its citizens what to do unless council pays its citizens.

I feel it should be, citizens' wish is council's command, and not the other way around.

Linda Kennedy grew up in the Okanagan, and, as a child, she remembers vividly having to take a ferry from Okanagan Landing to Kelowna along Okanagan Lake.

In her opinion, Kennedy told a crowd of 150 gathered at the Vernon Recreation Complex Tuesday for a public input session on the city’s draft transportation plan, it was during that time that somebody should have built a western bypass. Not now.

“I shudder to think that a western bypass is the only alternative in the long run,” said Kennedy, who turns 70 later this year. A bypass on the west side of Okanagan Lake won’t take much of the traffic away now.”

A proposed western bypass through the Mission Hill, Okanagan Landing and Bella Vista areas is one option presented by the city in its draft transportation plan, and drew a lot of discussion from the crowd.

George Hudson, who lives on Okanagan Avenue, and was the first of 40 speakers in the nearly three-hour session, told the city to “look east.”

“I think the (Okanagan) Landing is a jewel in the crown that is Vernon, but it’s a finite area bordered by a lake,” said Hudson. “And there’s only so much room for abuse. This highway bypass has nothing in it for residents. Maybe it will save two minutes on the way to Kelowna, maybe three minutes on the way to Kamloops.

“If there absolutely positively has to be a bypass, I think in the long-term we should look east. It’s wide open and there’s no natural boundaries out that way. I think the city should stop bullying the Landing and spread the misery around.”

A recent survey indicated that 237 respondents wanted a western corridor protection, while 266 were opposed, and 58 per cent preferred other options to the western bypass.

One of those options, which garnered a handful of positive responses at the public meeting, is “looking east” by extending 27th and 32nd Streets.

“We should keep the city in the city, the country in the country and keep the traffic where it is,” said Simone Runyan, a Coldstream resident.

The western bypass did garner support from speakers such as Ingrid Baron, who lives on Mission Hill.

“It’s pathetic what goes on on that highway,” said Baron, in reference to the speeding trucks and vehicles on Highway 97 near hospital hill and the army camp. “I’ve lived at my house for the last 19 years and it wasn’t anything like it is today 19 years ago. The western bypass is the most viable option.”

Aaron Kiselback, 39, who said he was saddened by lack of people in attendance from his generation, told the audience he doesn’t know what solution there can be for traffic problems besides the bypass.

“What does the city do about the geography of Vernon, when most things are in farm land?” he asked.

A great number of speakers were concerned about any option that eliminates green space and agricultural land.

A portion of Polson Park would be removed for an extension of 27th and 32nd Streets. And, as Vernon native and long-time Bella Vista Road resident Mas Sakakibara pointed out, the western bypass would require a great deal of land taken out of the Agricultural Land Reserve.

“The reserve considers the Bella Vista area to be one of the prime agricultural areas of B.C., and, already, we have a lot of development on Bella Vista Road, a lot of the farmland has disappeared,” he said. “We can’t afford to lose any more farm land.”

Colin Heggie, a fellow Bella Vista resident, and who lives “200 metres from the proposed western bypass,” asked city officials if a plan for compensation is in place to those whose property would be “sterilized over the next couple of decades while waiting for the bypass to happen or not happen.”

Lorne Holowachuk, the city’s transportation specialist, said discussions in the past had talked of concessions on taxation for affected residents, or a half-dozen other forms of concession.

“But we’re not even close to that level,” Holowachuk told Heggie.

A number of speakers want the city to pursue more bus routes, bike paths, Park and Ride and commuting options.

City officials were praised by many speakers for the work and effort they had put into the plans.

Holowachuk was thrilled to see so many people turn out to voice their opinions, and give city officials some input into all aspects of the proposed transportation draft plan.

“There were a lot of great comments,” he said.

City staff will take the information collected from the public input meeting, and incorporate it into the final transportation plan. That will be merged with the official community plan, and the goal is to present a final draft plan to Vernon City Council in time for its May 26 meeting.