Western Bypass Deadlocks Council.

The Transportation Section of the OCP was up for ratification on Monday. The Council took the Plan and broke it down into its component time-frames and debated and voted on each time-frame separately.

The 10 year Strategy bolstered by the additional $500,000 proposed each year for Transit, extra $300,000 for sidewalks, and extra $100,000 for both trails and cycling pathways (Total $1,000,000 or about 6% in extra taxes and maybe more if Coun. Beardsell's figure of $1.3 million is correct) and the 10-25 years Strategy passed easily in a 6-0 vote. (Baumbrough absent).

The fireworks erupted when the debate about the 25+ Year Strategy and its contentious 'protection of the West Bypass Corridor' was debated and finally voted on. A resolution of Coun. Beardsell, seconded by Coun. Gilroy on accepting the staff recommendation of protecting the West Bypass corridor and the Mackay Connector Corridor was proposed and was lost on a tie vote of 3-3. Coun. Cunningham (after agonizing over her decision) joined the mover and seconder proving once again that politics makes strange bedfellows. The other 3 voting down the motion for various reasons were Couns. Cochrane, Nicol and Mayor Lippert. Lippert particularly liked the Eastern Bypass to remain in the plan and dismissed NORD's objections by arguing that they would be non existent in 25 years.

Staff unveiled a compromise position that would have have protected the Turtle Mountain proposed road section in the North and the proposed Scott Road section in the south and left the connection part of these two segments "UNPROTECTED" (about 70% of the Western Bypass) This seemed to be a compromise by staff that would enshrine a decision in 25+ year portion of the transportation plan so as to make sure that the OCP could go forward in June to final public hearings.

Coun. Cunningham proposed support of this compromise resolution but this also was defeated in a tie vote of 3-3 with Beardsell, Cochrane and Nicol on one side with Lippert, Cunningham and Gilroy on the other. (I will have to watch this debate on Shaw at Noon today to confirm this voting pattern. By this time most of the audience including myself didn't know if they were screwed or bored and our attention spans shortened and our eyes glazed over.)

The final compromise vote was to turn the 3-3 split vote over to the Province for their consideration and to get some clarification and direction on whether there was support by the senior government for any of the bypasses or the transportation plan. This was passed by an unanimous vote.

At the rate that the Provincial Government moves the OCP will be pushed back into the distant future and indeed the first vote of a new Council after the November Civic election may to decide its fate.