City issues infrastructure wish list

Ron Seymour 2009-01-15 Kelowna Courier:

Pathways, bridges, roads and sewers are on the City of Kelowna‘s wish list for federal and provincial funding. City officials released a list Wednesday of six projects they say should merit consideration if, as expected, Ottawa and Victoria free up money for infrastructure improvements. All told, the local projects are worth almost $71 million.

Only one of the six (construction of the Glenmore bypass) is slated to go ahead this year, but Mayor Sharon Shepherd said the others could be fast-tracked if senior government financial support becomes available. “We could get a shovel in the ground for some of them this year,” she said, noting land acquisition and design work has been completed for several of the projects. However, there would likely have to be revisions to the 2009 budget to ensure local funds are available to match any support from Ottawa and Victoria.

The projects include:
– $12.5 million to build a new four-lane bridge over Mission Creek on Gordon Drive.
– $24 million to four-lane Highway 33 between Muir and Gallagher Roads.
– $11 million for sewers in the Hall Road area.
– $8.8 million for new recreation pathways along Lakeshore Road, Cawston Avenue and Houghton Road.

As well, municipal officials hope restoration of the century-old Laurel building, for which the city has already budgeted $1 million, could get underway this year if there‘s support from the federal or provincial governments. The first phase of the restoration project, involving removal of most of the building‘s second-floor offices and shoring up the floor, is estimated to cost $1.7 million.
Construction of the Glenmore bypass, a new four-lane, 1.2-kilometre link between Scenic and Dallas roads, will get underway this spring, after council approved the $11-million project in budget deliberations last week. Should provincial or federal money be secured for that road, municipal funds could be freed up and put to other projects, Shepherd said.

The wish list has already been sent to Kelowna-Lake Country Conservative MP Ron Cannan and to the offices of MLAs Al Horning and Sindi Hawkins. With sharp declines in the cost of construction materials, such as steel, asphalt and pipe, infrastructure projects could be priced lower this year than has been the case in recent years. And the initiatives could provide an employment boost to the building industry, which has been hit hard by the economic downturn.