Upgrades for evacuation roads sought

West Kelowna looks to province to make improvements to 2 routes for residents of Glenrosa area

West Kelowna’s quest for provincial money to upgrade evacuation routes on Crown land continues, so far unsuccessfully, as fire season draws nearer.

The city hopes the provincial government will make improvements to two designated evacuation routes for Glenrosa, a community of 3,000 people currently accessed by only one main road.

“Right now, for people in an ordinary family car, it would be a very difficult trip on these roads,” West Kelowna fire Chief Jason Brolund said Wednesday. “Taking these roads, it would be an option of last resort.

“The roads are very rough, ungraded, and there’s no cellphone coverage, so people would be disconnected in what would obviously be a very stressful situation,” Brolund said.

There are two evacuation routes for Glenrosa, both of which extend off the northern road of Glenrosa Road near the site of the long-closed Crystal Mountain ski hill.

A 50-kilometre route heads west to the Okanagan Connector and a 50-km route heads north, connecting with Westside Road north of Bear Creek Provincial Park.

The City of West Kelowna has put about 40 signs on the two roads so drivers won’t inadvertently venture down one of the many offshoots into previously logged areas.

“We also maintain about 1,000 maps at the Glenrosa fire hall that could be distributed in a pinch,” Brolund said. “So our planning is fairly robust, but we hope the government will improve the level of maintenance on the emergency routes.”

This week, the government announced $1.5 million in funding for communities around B.C. to plan evacuation routes. Grants of up to $25,000 were available.

In the Okanagan, grants were received by Vernon, Osoyoos, Lumby, Keremeos, Enderby, the OkanaganSimilkameen regional district and the North Okanagan regional district.

West Kelowna did not submit a grant application, spokeswoman Kirsten Jones said, because the municipality already has identified evacuation routes in the event of a forest fire or other natural disaster.

“We didn’t apply for this grant because it was specific to route planning and we already have a route planned from Glenrosa,” Jones wrote in an email. “But we still want the province to maintain this route, so it’s operational money we need.”