Image Credit: Facebook/District of Lake Country
July 30, 2019 - 5:00 PM
KELOWNA - Tired of dodging potholes and waiting in line as city streets are rebuilt or just repaved?
Ever wonder why they can’t do this work at night instead of when you’re rushing to get to work on time?
A change in schedule for a Kelowna waterworks project casts some light on the phenomenon.
Kelowna is in the middle of its largest-ever single construction project, the roughly $80 million it’s costing to rebuild the South East Kelowna Irrigation District and hook it into the city’s water system. It started about a year ago and has to be finished by April 2020 in order to qualify for massive senior government grants.
So far, the work has resulted in many roads being dug up and repaved but, since there are few commercial outlets in Southeast Kelowna, that only affected residents on their daily commutes.
That changes in mid-August as the work passes for about a two-block stretch in front of businesses like McCulloch Station Pub and the Orchard Greens Golf Course. With the urging of local businesses, that work is now scheduled to run Aug. 12 to 23 at night, possibly 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
“It is more expensive,” Kelowna’s director of infrastructure Allan Newcomb told city council July 29. “It’s about a $40,000 increase.”
Plus, there will still be dump trucks and other machinery trundling up and down KLO road.
Still to come, is a stretch of KLO Road from Mission Creek up to this commercial stretch. If that’s switched to night work, it will add $300,000 to the overall cost of the project.
That work isn’t scheduled to begin until after Labour Day weekend so a decision on day versus night has yet to be made.
So, who ends up paying for the night work?
In this case, it’s the people who are hooked up to that water system. But, if this was simply a repaving project of a city street, that money would come from all taxpayers.
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