Knox Mtn. sliding away
Risk of life, limb should mountainside break away, a city manager says
A soppy slope of Knox Mountain could give way at any moment, prompting the City of Kelowna to extend a no-go area at the southeast end of the peak.
“We have a geotechnical consultant monitoring the situation daily and they have never seen the ground-water levels there so high,” said civic operations manager Stephen Bryans.
“Pieces of the mountain have been breaking off and moving slowly down the slope. That’s what drew our attention. But if the slope were to fail and we had a full-on landslide, people in the area would be at risk of death or injury.”
That’s why the city has closed off the deadend section of Ethel Street north of Bay Avenue to both vehicle traffic and pedestrians.
This new out-of-bounds area is in addition to two Knox Mountain Park trails that were closed last week after a small mudslide.
The trails run parallel and south of Royal View Drive in the southeast section of the park and are above the dead-end section of Ethel Street at Bay Avenue that has just been cordoned off. They have been fenced off and warning signs have been put in place.
Pedestrians can use the sidewalk along Royal View Drive to access other parts of Knox Mountain Park that are open.
The most at-risk property in the unstable slope area is Knox Mountain Metals at at 930 Bay Ave., just east of the Ethel Street dead end that’s been closed off. The business has a wall of scrap metal at the bottom of the slope in an effort to hold up the soaking hillside.
The city-commissioned geotechnical report identifies the slope adjacent to Royal View Drive, a portion of the Knox Mountain Metals site and the northern most section of Ethel Street as the most impacted if there’s a full-on mudslide. As such, a safe-operating zone has been established at Knox Mountain Metals for it to be partially open.
The business continues to receive scrap metals, but it is not able to sell new or used metal right now. The city doesn’t want the public in their vehicles driving to and from the business when the area is prone to a landslide.
This section of Knox Mountain has been identified as unstable for two years with slow shifts of dirt, rock and mud makings its way down the slope. However, in the past few week,s the slope has become even more dangerous as it is super saturated after snow melt and rain.
The city expects the risk will pass as it dries up and trails can be reopened.