There is planning and then theresa国际传媒 execution.
The results of three planning ex颅ercises currently underway will determine urban development in sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 North End and north-south transportation in the Ok颅anagan for decades to come. All three 鈥 all which impact each other 鈥 are expected to be completed either this spring or summer.
Leading the charge is the pro颅vincial government.
聽鈥淭he Ministry of Transpor颅tation continues to work closely with local governments, Indigen颅ous communities, and the Re颅gional District of the Central Okanagan to develop the Central Okanagan integrated transpor颅tation strategy. The ministry will meet with local governments and Indigenous communities to re颅view the strategy before it is finalized this spring,鈥 said a ministry statement on Wednesday.
鈥淭his strategy is building on the findings of earlier regional studies to create a plan for the next 20 years and includes evaluating the potential need for a second crossing, and potential need for im颅provements to the existing bridge to extend capacity beyond its current state. The 2019 Central Ok颅anagan planning study reviewed future capacity needs across Okanagan Lake. That stu颅dy found that the existing bridge could provide sufficient capacity to meet the Central Okanagansa国际传媒聽 needs through 2040.鈥
The City of sa国际传媒 is already looking forward to hearing from ministry representatives.
鈥淭he ministry plans to talk with each of the municipal councils in the valley about next steps for that Hwy. 97 corridor and priority projects, probably before the end of April,鈥 said Ryan Smith, divisional director of planning and development for the City of sa国际传媒, on Tuesday.
Complicating the planning is the development of downtown to the north.
The City of sa国际传媒 is preparing a North End neighbourhood plan to guide redevelopment of the fast-changing area over the next 20 years and beyond, including the locations of parks and public spaces, development standards, required infrastructure and transportation solutions.
Final plan development is sche颅d颅uled for next summer, possibly without accommodating the second lake crossing which could cut through the North End.
In 2017, the ministry outlined four options for bridge ap颅proaches, all passing through the North End and connecting to Clement Avenue otherwise known as the Central Okanagan Bypass.
In August 2021, the Vernon-based Thorlakson family received city council approval to launch an area redevelopment plan for the 40-acre Tolko site. Holar Developments, owned by Timber Investments – the family business that also owns Vernon-based Tolko, hired Vancouver-based planner Dialog to lead a community consultation and planning program expected to take about 18 months. According to the redevelopment website , a concept plan was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.
Of the four possible second crossing routes through the North End, one of them cuts diagonally across the mill property.
鈥淭hrough our process with the North End plan, if the Ministry of Transportation came to us and said 鈥楬ey look, protect a corridor through there or we want to buy a corridor through there for the future鈥, we would certainly consider that,鈥 said Smith, adding the city would consider any feedback from the ministry as part of the North End Neighbourhood Plan process.
鈥淚 can tell you that in a more recent planning effort, which was our regional transportation plan looking out 20 years, it didn鈥檛 come up in that document,鈥 said Smith.
鈥淭here has to be a plan in place. There are other options that aren鈥檛 crossing into the North End. There are crossings at the south end of the city that have been looked at in the past as well.鈥
The Regional Transportation Plan says that based on projected population growth, a second crossing wouldn鈥檛 be needed until 2040. But since its release, the Central Okanagan has become one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Canada.
Former West sa国际传媒 mayor and councillor Doug Findlater recalled that during the W.R. Bennett Bridge official opening in 2008 he was approached by the bridgesa国际传媒 name颅sake who told him not to waste time.
鈥淏ill Bennett said 鈥楾his one is done now. Start lobbying for the next one, right now.鈥 Those were his words of wisdom,鈥 Findlater said. 鈥淎nd that didn鈥檛 really happen very much鈥ut now, we鈥檙e seeing that something must be done in order to move more traffic, at least in the summer.鈥
A second crossing from Bear Creek on the Westside to the Tolko Mill in sa国际传媒 was discussed by the ministry at that time since 鈥渋n both cases, lands were relatively untied down,鈥 Findlater said.
On the Westside, it would connect to a Peachland Highway 97 bypass in the hills above the town, link to the Okanagan Connector, head north above Glenrosa and Westbank, and over to Bear Creek.
In May 2015, the ministry launched a three-year transportation planning study for the Central Okanagan, which explored future mobility needs, including route options and potential timing for a future second crossing of Okanagan Lake. It was actually completed in 2020 with barely a mention of the second crossing.
鈥淚n 1986, when the Connector was surveyed, they were actually surveying what was called the Highline Highway, across Glen颅rosa, above Shannon Lake, Shannon Woods and over to Rose Valley. When it hit Rose Valley and Bear Creek, it could either go up the lake to Vernon on Westside Road or straight across to sa国际传媒 for a second crossing,鈥 said Findlater.
However, a ministry survey has since showed most traffic on the Bennett Bridge travels within Peachland to Lake Country, he noted, with only four per cent going straight through to Vernon.
Ministry officials did note that a highway to Vernon would cross a number of wildlife migration routes, .
鈥淭hey did it in Lake Country (the new Highway 97 section north of Winfield). Thatsa国际传媒 basically a Highline Highway where they bypass a good chunk of town and the lake, take it up and over. And even the connector itself. Some would have said that itsa国际传媒 impossible to build that. But here we have it and we use it all the time. Itsa国际传媒 possible,鈥 said Findlater.
鈥淎t that time, there was a Highline Highway route designated; then, the courts said you can鈥檛 sterilize land indefinitely. You have to be moving forward. I think it was under 10 years,鈥 Findlater said. 鈥淥ur regional director at the time, the late Geoff Payter, built Shannon Woods on a chunk of that land that was designated. So thatsa国际传媒 gone but you can always find another area. They can build on anything if the will is there, because the technology is there now.鈥
