Letter to the Editor

Re: Highway 97 Expansion North of Oliver is not worth it

In response to a newspaper article about Mr. Dulay’s (Ministry of Transportation and Highways) recent presentation to Oliver Council, I can think of a number of reasons why the proposed hwy expansion should not be supported. Ten million dollars so I can arrive in Penticton 2 -3 minutes faster is not worth it.

Mr. Dulay says 60 jobs will be created –how many locals are actually going to benefit from those short-term jobs?

Apparently motorists spend 70 % of their time following other vehicles on this stretch of road – I don’t think that number is any different for any other stretch of Okanagan hwy. Heavy traffic is a fact of life in the Okanagan corridor as there are many people who live here and many more that come to vacation here.

Eight percent of the 12 collisions over a 9 yr period in that stretch were because of overtaking  –  that is less than one accident in that time period. All the other reasons for collisions will not be mitigated by an increase in hwy width. Maybe there will be more accidents as people will be travelling at a higher rate of speed.

Minimize the footprint – how is that possible with a doubling of the paved area? The only way to minimize the footprint would be to NOT expand the hwy. This corridor is already narrow between McIntyre Bluff and McIntyre canyon. Doubling the width of the hwy is not likely to positively affect the wildlife that uses that corridor and area – both the endangered and more common species – bats, birds, snakes, deer, etc.

The Ministry originally wanted to use the land on the east side of the hwy, but naturally the Nature Trust (landowner) did not support that idea. Their mandate is to conserve habitat – not pave it over. Moving the project to the west side of the hwy is going to affect the exact same sensitive ecosystem, and make an even narrower corridor between the hwy and the river.

This proposal is a waste of our taxpayer money, and I believe will negatively impact the habitat and wildlife in the area. I am sure most people can think of other areas they would rather the provincial govt spend 10 million dollars. Re-surfacing White Lake Rd would be a much better use of some of that money.

Sara Bunge