Tuesday, January 10, 2012

No Appetite For Road Diet

The proposed road diet on Vernon's 43rd Avenue has been put on the city's shelf for at least the next five years.  That's when staff say the project may be revisited if it's felt the road requires an upgrade. Councillor Bob Spiers supports the time frame despite initially wanting the idea scrapped altogether. "Five years from now we could have different planners, a different council and everything like that. It's sort of like a five year holiday. We won't see that issue come back before us." The city had proposed going from four to three traffic lanes on 43rd in order to add cycling and safety features, but there was opposition, and the application for gas tax funding was turned down by Ottawa. Mayor Rob Sawatzky says with the funding gone, the project is going nowhere. "We've got some many other problems to work on that that's not part of the deal. Politics is the art of the possible, so if you don't have money, it's not possible."

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