More of Westside Road to be upgraded, made safer
Province improving 1.3-km section of twisty, narrow road near La Casa Resort
The Daily Courier
A particularly dangerous stretch of Westside Road will be made safer with $5.7million worth of improvements.
Blind curves will be smoothed out, shoulders added and guardrails installed along a 1.3-kilometre section between La Casa Resort and Muir Road.
“It’s one of the worst sections on a road, with a lot of challenges,” North Westside regional director Wayne Carson said Tuesday.
“People out here are going to be very thankful to see these upgrades coming along,” Carson said.
The work zone is about 30 km north of the Highway 97 intersection in West Kelowna. The section of Westside Road has steep rock bluffs on one side and 20- to 50-metre drop-offs down to Okanagan Lake on the other.
“The road’s so narrow there, there isn’t even enough room for a driver to safely pass someone on a bicycle in the summer,” Carson said.
The Ministry of Transportation says more than 1,000 vehicles travel the soon-tobe-upgraded stretch of road every day.
“People have been waiting a long time for improvements to Westside Road along Okanagan Lake,” Transportation Minister Claire Trevina said in a release. “Widening the road and adding guardrails will make travel safer, more efficient and more enjoyable for everyone.”
Under the previous Liberal government, millions of dollars’ worth of upgrades were undertaken on sections of Westside Road inside the riding represented by former premier Christy Clark.
“I’m very pleased to see money for these improvements has survived Christy’s departure,” Carson said, referring to Clark’s decision last summer to quit politics. “My concern was the money for Westside Road might dry up when she left office, but I’m glad to see the NDP recognizes the importance of this work.”