Vernon residents are being encouraged to take an active role in determining transportation policy. The city will hold a public input session on the draft transportation plan at the Vernon Recreation Complex Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. “It’s an opportunity to provide input to council and it will allow council to have a dialogue with any of the presenters,” said 
Lorne Holowachuk, transportation specialist. “It’s a good opportunity to look beyond the 25-year horizon and as far out as the 50-year horizon.” It’s anticipated that much of the input session will be dominated by possibly protecting a corridor for a proposed western bypass through the Mission Hill, Okanagan Landing and Bella Vista areas. A recent survey indicated that 237 respondents wanted corridor protection while 266 were opposed. Fifty-eight preferred other options to the western bypass. Holowachuk hopes Tuesday’s input session will provide more clarification on the bypass. “We have a split of opinions so that’s an area we’d like to see more discussion on,” he said. The Western Corridor Impact Assessment Committee has come out against the project, saying the bypass would negatively impact existing neighbourhoods and destroy farm land and natural ecosystems. However, the recently formed Western Bypass Now Committee wants the timeline for the highway sped up as a way of moving vehicles off Highway 97 and avoiding traffic jams.
The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce has also waded into the debate. “At this time, we are only talking about protecting land that may be needed for a bypass at some point in the future, likely decades from now,” said president Jack Hack in a release. “If the land is not preserved now, we will lose this option for our future.” Other aspects of the draft transportation plan include transit and bicycle networks, and extending 27th Street from Highway 6 to Highway 97. The plan features a number of recommendations from city staff, but Holowachuk says no final decisions have been made and public input is critical to the process. “It will influence our final transportation plan recommendations (to council) for the short, medium and long-term,” he said.
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Public must enter debate Morning Star Editorial March 23
Anyone who has driven around Vernon knows there are traffic problems and they have only got worse as the community grows. That’s why it is so important that the City of Vernon take a look at short, medium and long-term transportation needs. By planning now, perhaps some of the future challenges can be minimized or avoided. But there is no easy way to handle some of these issues, such as new roads, in a community with well-established neighbourhoods and values we all cherish. Aspects of the city’s draft transportation are already being hammered hard, and specifically corridor preservation for the proposed western bypass. But beyond the bypass, there are other critical aspects to the plan such as extending 27th Street from Highway 6 to Highway 97, and alternate modes of getting around like walking and cycling. The city has been accused of just rolling ahead with what it believes are the best transportation options but that isn’t the case. There have been a number of open houses and there is a public input session Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Vernon Recreation Complex. It appears like the city has learned from the civic complex fiasco and is being inclusive this time around. But for the process to work, the public must actually get involved and provide some direction to city staff and council. Transportation impacts all of us, so there must be some ownership over the matter. Just waiting for council to make a decision and then slamming it isn’t good enough. City council has issued a challenge to residents and it’s time to respond.
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