Motorists could become less of driving force in Kelowna
Update for city’s transportation plan expected to focus less on ‘moving vehicles’
It’s time to get a move on updating Kelowna’s transportation plan, council will hear today.
The wide-ranging document, which covers such things as future roads, possible transit routes and bike path development, hasn’t been comprehensively revised since 1995.
The new plan, dubbed Kelowna on the Move, is expected to focus slightly less on meeting the needs of drivers and more on things like public transit and ways people could be encouraged to use their car less.
“The plan will have an inclusive approach and will focus on connecting people and goods to their destination, rather than moving vehicles,” reads part of a report to council by staffer Rafael Villareal, who heads up the city’s new integrated transportation department.
“In doing so, it will consider shaping demand as well as building capacity, programs as well as infrastructure, and the interrelationships between land use and transportation,” Villareal writes.
Another aspect of the plan is dubbed “Vision Zero” — attempting to ensure through currently unspecified ways that “no loss of life is acceptable on city streets due to traffic accidents.”
There’s also a goal to begin considering transportation in a regional context, across the Central Okanagan, rather than to just focus on the city of Kelowna.
That’s because 64 per cent of the Central Okanagan’s population lives in Kelowna, but 85 per cent of its jobs are located here.
More than 20 per cent of all morning commutes cross city boundaries, and 40 per cent of people from outside Kelowna who drive to work each weekday are headed to Kelowna.
“As the Central Okanagan continues to grow as an economic region, crossboundary trips are expected to increase over the years,” the report says.
For 2017, specific plan objectives will include a study of the pedestrian and bicycle network, development of a policy intended to create more roundabouts in addition to the 10 that currently exist, and transportation studies for Wilden Glenmore, Rutland and the Landmark business centre.