Bypass still top priority, says mayor
Colin Basran says city will need money from senior governments to build North End connector; challenger Tom Dyas says current council has ‘shelved’ project
A highway bypass remains Kelowna’s top road priority despite the project’s completion date being pushed ever further into the future, Mayor Colin Basran says.
But extending Clement Avenue from Spall Road east toward Highway 33 is a more expensive and complicated undertaking than people realize, Basran says.
“Our top road priority continues to be the North End connector,” Basran said Thursday during a mayoral debate hosted by AM 1150.
But Basran’s main challenger, Tom Dyas, insisted construction of the “much studied, much promised” road has received diminished importance in recent years.
“It has been shelved by the current council and this is unacceptable,” Dyas said, adding the road is needed to alleviate highway congestion and make cross-city commuting easier and faster.
In 2006, city officials said they hoped Clement Avenue would be extended east of Spall to Highway 33 by 2020. But now, there are no funds earmarked in the city’s longrange transportation plan until at least 2030.
And in a report given to council in August, planners said the bypass “will not relieve congestion.”
Transportation planners have suggested the city spend nearly as much on public transit, sidewalks and bike lanes ($202 million) as on roads ($210 million) in the next decade.
At a mayoral forum hosted Tuesday by the chamber of commerce, Basran said construction of the highway bypass depends on the project getting financial help from the provincial and federal governments, since the project would cost at least $60 million.
In addition to that, he said the bypass would require the relocation of the bus barns, at a cost of $58 million, and relocation of the city works yard, at a cost of $52 million.
Nevertheless, despite the enormous expense, Basran said city officials were engaged in discussions with provincial officials about the highway bypass project.
“There are actually things being done to move this forward,” Basran said.
During the Thursday radio forum, Basran said he believes in a “balanced transportation network” that considers the interests of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
More than 90 per cent of Kelowna commuters either drive themselves to work or ride with someone else. Dyas says the city’s transportation plan does not pay enough attention to their interests.
“Bicycles are important, (but) not at the expense of losing focus on the roads and infrastructure people need to drive their cars around the community,” Dyas said Thursday.