Plans being rethought based on residents' concerns
Mayor John Slater said the Ministry of Highways is still trying to work out plans to address traffic concerns in east Osoyoos.
Area residents said in May the town had left them in the dark about traffic plans for their neighbourhood. The Town of Osoyoos, Department of Highways and the Osoyoos Indian Band have been working on a plan to address highway congestion and safety concerns east of the bridge.
We should have been consulted, said Fred Cawdell, who lives off Tamarack Drive.
He and other neighbourhood residents have met to discuss some the proposed changes to their area.
Last week, Slater called Cawdell to update him on the progress.
The Department of Highways is not ready to send the report to the people. They're reworking some numbers and trying to reconfigure their drafts, Slater said.
Cawdell said this was good news. He added that, contrary to what some people think, the Department of Highways will listen to the residents.
An example was when the weigh scale was going to be built on the site where the new mall is going in. Residents spoke out against such a development and Highways listened and cancelled the project, Cawdell explained.
I told Mayor Slater we were happy to hear that they wanted to rethink some of the plans in light of concerns shown by residents.
He said when Highways comes up with a better plan, we will be the first to know.
Slater said the Department of Highways is figuring out traffic flows on 45th Street and trying to forecast the numbers for the next 10 to 20 years for that area and others, such as Lakeshore Drive and Cottonwood Drive.
Hopefully by the end of summer we will have options available for the public to look at and the community will have their input, Slater said.
We will have all the drafts available at a public open house.rn
