Kelowna Construction

[Emtee]

Originally Posted by crazytown

Does anyone know when the next phase of the Central Okanagan Multi-Model Corridor is going to be constructed from Clement's terminus at Spall to Highway 33? I have noticed some new (as of December 2012) maps and graphics under the City of Kelowna’s Document Centre. Is there money being set aside in the annual budget for this project?

http://www.kelowna.ca/CM/Page2702.aspx

Hopes for funding pinned on new bypass name

WEDNESDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2012 02:00 RON SEYMOUR

A long-sought Kelowna road link designed to take traffic off Highway 97 and speed travel times for commuters has a new name.
Previously known as the Central Okanagan bypass, the hoped-for road is now being referred to as the Highway 33-City Centre Extension.
It would run from the Highway 33-Enterprise Way intersection west along the railway corridor to where Clement Avenue currently dead-ends at Spall Road.
"It's at the absolute top of our infrastructure priority list," Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray said Tuesday.
"But it would be an enormously costly project, somewhere in the range of $60 million."
The city has tried for years, without success, to convince the provincial government to help fund the proposed road.
By now referring to it as an extension of Highway 33, Gray said, the belief is Victoria may be persuaded it is worthy of being funded as part of the provincial transportation network.
City officials last week updated the municipality's long-range capital spending plan, prioritizing projects based on their urgency, cost and perceived benefits.
It was a timely exercise, given that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on Tuesday launched a new campaign aimed at convincing senior levels of government to help replace crumbling and aging municipal infrastructure.
The FCM is calling for new spending of tens of billions of dollars to fix antiquated water systems, deteriorating roads and bridge and sewage treatment plants.
Traffic congestion alone costs Canada $10 billion a year in lost productivity, the FCM says.
As it was known at the time, the first phase of the Central Okanagan bypass opened along the railway corridor between Gordon Drive and Spall Road in 2008. Its further extension has been effectively stalled since then for lack of senior government funding.
Other top local infrastructure renewal projects, Gray said, include a new bridge on Lakeshore Road over Mission Creek, and improvements to the independently run water systems such as the one serving Southeast Kelowna.
But compared to many other Canadian cities, Gray said, Kelowna's infrastructure is in generally good shape.
"These problems tend to be worse in cities that are much larger and older than Kelowna," Gray said. "We're a relatively young city, so we don't face the same kind of challenges as a Montreal or a Toronto."
Kelowna periodically hires a consultant to assess the state of all municipal infrastructure, from roads to water lines, buildings to bridges.
This year's review found the physical assets of Kelowna, estimated to be worth $2.55 billion, are in pretty good shape, at least when compared to those owned and maintained by other Canadian cities.
The average piece of municipal infrastructure in Kelowna has 28 years' remaining service life, according to consultant Michael Trickey of Strategic Infrastructure Management Inc.
Annual infrastructure replacement costs are estimated to average about $18.5 million in the coming years, which is said to be a manageable percentage of the city's overall budget.
By contrast, some municipalities are "behind the eight ball" in that they are looking at hugely expensive infrastructure upgrades that will consume significant percentages of their budgets, Trickey told council in September.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/front-...ng-pinned-on-new-bypass-name-111412.html

Last update on the project in local media was this from November 14, where the city was hoping for provincial funding to help them build it, with no projected time frame for construction.