Local Community Advertising
The province has launched their 10-year transportation plan, and it includes some interesting projects for Kelowna.
The six-laning is set to begin in 2015 for Highway 97. The highway will be expanded between Highway 33 and Edwards Road on the way to UBC’s Okanagan campus. In general, the province says that it hopes to make more passing lanes and four-laning throughout the Okanagan because of growing tourist, business, and industry traffic.
Location of six-laning construction for Highway 97 in Kelowna. (Photo Credit: Google Maps)
The second bridge for Okanagan Lake is also gaining ground, with the province prioritizing this project planning. They’ll be starting community engagement as well as assessing the Highway 97 corridor through the communities of Kelowna, West Kelowna, and Peachland.
Westside Road also gets special mention with the investment of $45 million in safety improvements and resurfacing. Similar projects include intersection improvements, new interchanges, and safety improvements to help travellers get safely on and off provincial highways in the Okanagan. Another priority is the installation of the advanced left-turn signal at Daimler Road and Highway 97 in West Kelowna.
The William R. Bennett Bridge was finished in 2008. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)
The new $2.5 billion transportation plan has named the following 12 priorities for the next 10 years:
- Rehabilitating Highways, Bridges and Side Roads
- Improving Highway Safety
- Improving Highway Capacity and Reliability
- Delivering a Provincial Trucking Strategy
- Investing in Transit
- Investing in Cycling
- Investing in Airports
- Enabling Efficient Ports and Rail
- Sustaining and Renewing Ferries
- Building Partnerships with First Nations
- Improving Accessibility
- Protecting the Environment
More than $800 million is dedicated over the next three years to improving road infrastructure in the province, and almost $1 billion is committed to expanding major highways and the network.
Local Community Advertising