City suffering from hangover after years spent on wine route
West Kelowna should put the brakes, for now, on developing more sections of the city’s Wine Route, Coun. Doug Findlater says.
A 1.3-km section of Boucherie Road, rebuilt and upgraded at a cost of $7.3 million, will officially reopen Dec. 7, although local traffic is already using the street.
A months-long closure to facilitate the project caused a financial hit to wineries along the road, Findlater said at Tuesday’s regular council meeting.
“This did affect their business, although they adapted very well by putting on special events and advertising,” Findlater said.
“But I really hope it’s a number of years before we look at Boucherie Road again and give everybody time to recover and get over this. We should look at (improving) some other roads in our community as opposed to focusing on the so-called Wine Route,” he said.
Boucherie Road is West Kelowna’s busiest municipal street. Sections on its north and south end have been upgraded in recent years, with the addition of bike lanes, sidewalks and decorative features.
But a six-kilometre stretch between Ogden Road and Gellatly Road remains unimproved with gravel shoulders, no sidewalks and few amenities.
Some residents have complained about the narrower width of the vehicle lanes on the rebuilt sections of Boucherie Road, but staff told council that should actually reduce collisions there.
“This is kind of the trend in transportation,” engineering manager Allen Fillion told council. “With a bit narrower road, people don’t feel as safe, so they slow down.”