Hundreds Soon To Be Put At Work In Relief Camps
EDITOR’S NOTE: In recognition of Canada’s 150th anniversary, The Herald is reprinting historic stories from the South Okanagan focusing on the biggest news story of each year.
SEPTEMBER 3, 1931: Relief camps on road construction work are being opened up in many sections of this district and several road projects, held over for some time, are now being launched in order to provide work for the unemployed.
One of these is the crossing of the two Rock Creek canyons on the road to the Boundary country, a short distance east of Bridesville.
Long the dread of timid motorists, these crossings are about to be replaced through the construction of a new road a mile and a half long, across the mouth of the canyon and below the point where McKinney Creek and Jolly Creek meet, although still above the location where the combined creek flows into Rock Creek.
The diversion is to provide for a canyon bridge 100 feet high and 300 feet long. The situation calling for changed conditions in this road was forced by unemployment in the district and accentuated by the recent fire which damaged the existing log-supported road through the canyons.
It is understood that a relief camp of 100 men will be established in that locality at once in order to have the new canyon road finished this year.
NEW YELLOW LAKE CAMP
The new Yellow Lake road camp near the Parker ranch, and housing 100 men, will be ready for use in very little more than a week. This camp will be at work on a new road to get away from the Parker hill road, which is narrow, steep and winding.
FULL BLAST ON HOPE-PRINCETON
More than 100 men are now working on the eastern end of the Hope-Princeton link and at least four camps will be operated. They have, in fact, already been built, and it is believed that this force of 100, which is an expansion of the 30 men working all summer on the link, will be increased very soon to 250 at least.
One camp is at Friday Creek, another at Copper Creek, a third near the junction of the Roche and Pasayten rivers, and a fourth further ahead. The intention is to have the road pushed through the Allison Pass, the summit about 50 miles out from Princeton, by the end of the year, if weather permits.
MORE ON HOPE END
Information is that at the western end of the link, covering the 38 miles from Hope to Allison Pass, the camps will be even larger than on this side in order to take care of many Vancouver unemployed. A relief camp is to be built at Shuswap Hill on the VernonArrow Lakes road, with another at Mars Lake on the Trans-Canada Highway. Two small camps are now working on the Kelowna-Carmi road which, as a pilot road, is practically completed. A camp is operating at Cascade for the purpose of improving the highway near the Cascade bridge and west towards Grand Forks. The Osoyoos camp will continue. The new bridge there is nearing completion insofar as the central structure is concerned and the approaches are now being put in hand.
OK FALLS BRIDGE UNDERWAY
The new bridge at Okanagan Falls is now underway. Material has been ordered and the approaches are being constructed. This bridge would be finished in about six weeks or two months.