Proposed parkway protested

By Scott NeufeldWednesday, July 12, 2006 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_355.php
Jim Inglis enjoys the views from a trail above his Longacre Drive home and wonders why no one is listening to him and his neighbours.Residents of Longacre Drive and Apollo Road submitted a petition of more than 140 signatures to Vernon city council on Monday opposing the proposed Ellison Parkway. The two-lane roadway, which is designed to ease traffic build up along Okanagan Landing Road, has been plotted to go through farmland right above the homes along Longacre.“I thought there would be a subdivision behind me but not a highway,” Inglis said. “Now we could have headlights in our bedroom.”Inglis said that the planned route is unnecessary because a perfectly good option exists further up the slope. He said upgrading Bench Row Road is a better option because it would funnel traffic away from the Landing, allowing drivers to head south toward Kelowna along Commonage Road without clogging the centre of town.“We’re in favour of the project,” he said. “But if we’re going to do it, we have to do it right to get traffic off Okanagan Landing Road.”The proposed roadway will cross land that is currently in the Agricultural Land Reserve. If the route is constructed, part of the PRT Vernon Nursery would have to be dismantled to make way for the thoroughfare.But if Bench Row Road were improved, Inglis said the city has a wide enough right of way that no agricultural reserve land would have to be used. There is also enough room to build the promised pathway that will run along side the road.Inglis, who has a degree in geography and urban planning conducted a traffic count last week to compare the volume on Okanagan Landing Road and Bench Row Road. He found that nearly three times as many cars travel on Okanagan Landing Road during peak hours, while Bench Row Road is barely used.“This is the most underutilized road in the city,” he said. “Every car you put up here (Bench Row Road) you take away from down there.”Forcing traffic up Apollo Road and behind Longacre will decrease land values and make it more dangerous for kids to walk to school in the quiet neighbourhood.“The goodwill it would create inside Okanagan Landing that for once we’re finally being listened to would go a long way to make Okanagan Landing residents feel like they are part of the city,” he said.On Monday council tabled the issue until the next council meeting in two weeks, but several councillors could not resist giving their opinion. Coun. Patrick Nicol said that residents were blind-sided by the proposal.“You have a significant number of people whose neighbourhood is changing drastically and they are surprised by it,” he said. “I believe we should not in all conscience be passing this today.”Coun. Pat Cochrane was less willing to wait saying that the city needs to move quickly so that the multi-use pathway would provide more recreation space to the city.“As a community we’re so far behind in developing trails and cycling paths,” he said. “We are way, way behind where we should be.”