— MOT says plan will emerge soon —
(OSOYOOS TIMES — Feb. 7, 2007) —
By Julie TurnerrnOsoyoos Times
A long-awaited transportation plan for east Osoyoos is still in the works, more than two years after it was announced.
The objectives of the plan “ commissioned in August 2004 by the Town of Osoyoos in conjunction with the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) and the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) “ include improving highway traffic flow and addressing highway safety concerns.
Osoyoos Mayor John Slater told the Osoyoos Times recently the Ministry of Transportation has kind of put this on the back burner. A lot of it will depend on what the OIB plans for the former Kalcat property, the orchard the OIB purchased on the corner of Highway 3 and 45th Avenue.
That land has long been speculated to be developed as a corner store and gas bar, and has also been recently suggested to be a possible location for the Band's casino, should it be approved by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
OIB Chief Operating Officer Chris Scott confirms the Band has bought the land and views it as potential commercial property. Scott says the Band has had the corner store and gas bar idea top in mind, but did not rule out the possibility it could be considered for restaurant space or a casino. He agrees the MOT, Town and OIB are in a holding pattern at the moment but believes they will be meeting again soon.
MOT Public Affairs Officer Susan Williams agrees the three parties are still in the discussion stage but says a final agreement will emerge soon, at which point the public will have the opportunity for input.
We want to make sure we have a street network that will serve both the municipal and highway traffic in the best way possible and serve the community for years to come.
The new Official Community Plan includes a street network map and notes some east Osoyoos highway improvements that will be included in the Town's capital planning over the next five years, including:rn- upgrading the Highway 3-Cottonwood Drive intersection with traffic lights,
– relocation of the Highway 3-45th Street intersection further west to become a major intersection with signals, providing access north to OIB lands and south to Lakeshore Drive,rn- securing east-west local road linkages between Cottonwood Drive, Tamarack Drive and 45th Avenue,rn- widening of Osoyoos Lake Bridge from two to four lanes.
The first hint of what the traffic realignment plan would look like for east Osoyoos came in April 2005, when then-councillor Tom Shields told the Osoyoos Times he feared, after seeing the early draft plans, they would change the entire face of eastside Osoyoos and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
In May of 2005, eastside residents spoke up and questioned why, if plans for re-routing traffic through east Osoyoos were being considered, they had not been consulted as part of a citizens' committee.
Draft plans produced by Kneeshaw Engineering were first presented to the public in September of 2005 and drew some 200 citizens out to view and comment on the four-phased transportation plan.
It spurred some eastside residents to create their own, alternative plan that would address traffic and safety issues east of the bridge but would not carve up the neighbourhoods in east Osoyoos.
David Kneeshaw says he completed his final report and sent it to the Town, OIB and MOT in the spring of 2006. Along with improving highway traffic flow and safety, the plan addresses access from side streets, strengthening the existing frontage road system, maximizing use of existing infrastructure, maintaining reasonable business access, improving the municipal street network, minimizing property impacts and the overall cost of required improvements.
