The B.C. Ministry of Transportation has stated that a project to turn this stretch of Hwy 97 north of Osoyoos into four lanes is still in the preliminary design stages. Owners of the two fruit stands on the stretch are fighting the proposal and the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce has said alternatives to the expansion are available. The fruit stand owners are asking the ministry to add to the existing highway instead of building an entire new stretch, which would remove direct highway access to their businesses. Photo by Laurena Weninger - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-February 10, 2010

By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

There may be alternatives to the proposed four-lane upgrade to Hwy. 97 north of Osoyoos, said the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce (SOCC).
But before they take a more certain stand against the concept, chamber members want to hold a public meeting.
In November, the federal and provincial governments pledged $8 million towards the construction of a new, two-kilometre stretch of four-lane highway running from Graveyard Hill to Dead Man’s Lake.
The new road will run parallel to the existing road and the existing road would become a frontage road.
It’s causing some uproar from fruit stand owners in the area.
“I thought that usually the goal of the government is to work alongside small businesses, and not against them,” said Pavadeep Dhaliwal, in her address to Osoyoos town council at its Feb. 1 meeting.
Council agreed to hear Dhaliwal’s concerns, even though the Hwy. 97 expansion matter is outside its jurisdiction.
Dhaliwal’s family owns Orchard Hill Estate Cidery and Fruit Market on Hwy. 97.
“The new four-lane highway will have numerous negative impacts on our business,” she said.
One impact is an expected decline in drop-in business due to a lack of highway access. Having to drive to an access road, then take a frontage road to the fruit stand will mean some people just drive by instead of stopping, Dhaliwal said.
“Motorists will not be able to see our business from the new highway, as it is at a lower elevation than the existing one.”
She is proposing that the province add two lanes to the existing highway instead of the brand-new section.
The family has a petition on which they are collecting signatures in opposition of the new highway and so far have collected 370 names.
They’ve also complained to the chamber, which has a committee focused on Hwy. 97 issues.
In January, Robert Lintell, an SOCC member on the Highway 97 Committee, attended a meeting in Kelowna to discuss and review plans for the Okanagan Valley’s transportation infrastructure.
There, he met with elected officials and senior staff from the B.C. Transportation Ministry and expressed concerns over the Hwy. 97 project.
“While there is merit to improving the highway and providing an added passing lane operation in this area, the proposed plan, which calls for the construction of an entirely new four-lane highway eliminating direct access to a viable business and road side markets would severely impair traffic stopping at these sites to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables,” states Lintell’s report from the meeting.
“There may be other alternatives to enable the construction of the passing lane by simply keeping the existing south bound highway bed and constructing on a new two-lane northbound corridor. Such a plan would still enable southbound traffic to access business sites and provide the required passing lanes for this area. Such compromise would appear to be a better ‘win-win’ for both parties, plus would improve public safety and may save considerable construction costs.”
In Lintell’s report, he states that he was assured the proposed plan for the highway was not yet final and since the ministry was aware of the strong opposition to the concept, it would be further reviewing the concerns.
“Further, they also offered to meet with other Chamber businesses in the area to review the plan and seek additional input,” he said.
Bonnie Dancey, the chamber’s chief executive officer, said they will be facilitating a public meeting on the issue in the near future, but have not yet set a date or time.
“The ministry is taking the concerns of the business community into consideration in developing the design for this project,” said Linda Gold, a B.C. Transportation Ministry spokeswoman.
Currently, the plan to expand Hwy. 97 north of Osoyoos is in the preliminary design stage, Gold said.
The ministry has completed engineering and road safety audits and reports on those audits are slated to be finished by the end of August.
The ministry will host a public open house on the four-lane expansion concept sometime in mid-March and the project will go to tender in the spring of 2010.
Construction is to start in the summer and be completed by fall, 2010.
According to Transportation Ministry statistics, there were 40 collisions between 1999 and 2008 on the stretch of Hwy. 97 from the north end of Osoyoos Lake to Dead Man’s Lake, including one fatality, 13 injuries and 26 cases of property damage.
The fatal crash happened on Oct. 15, 2006 at 6:15 p.m., roughly 90 metres south of 204th Avenue.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com