Communities across the province of British Columbia are preparing for the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in Victoria at which the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) will bring their concerns of the condition of Highway 93/95 to the B.C. Ministry of transportation and infrastructure. Municipalities across the province of British Columbia are preparing for the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in Victoria B.C. For the convention, municipalities have the opportunity to request 15-minute meetings with different ministers to discuss issues and projects in their areas. RDEK representatives will meet with the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone.
“In this case, the concern myself and some of the other Columbia Valley directors have are the condition of some of the highway the asphalt for Highway 93/95,” said Columbia Valley Services Committee chair Gerry Taft.
The identified areas of concern are the Athalmer entrance by the crossroads, in front of Copper Point Golf Course and the Radium hill. The purpose of the meeting is to talk to the minister and find out if there is a timeline for the highway and what that timeline is.
“There’s just some areas- it just looks like it’s been a long time since it’s been paved. I think we all kind of know north of here toward Golden or south of here toward Cranbrook there’s been a lot of other paving going on and it just seems like this little section hasn’t be done,” said Taft.
The RDEK focus with Highway 93/95 is the condition of the road itself and the asphalt needing repaving. From there, they will look at the potential for more passing and turning lanes. In Radium the road condition led to lane closure earlier this year adding to the concern.
“The asphalts in pretty rough shape and (Radium mayor Clara Reinhardt) also brought up the fact that there was some slopes that seem to (have) caused one of the lanes to be closed earlier in the year -looks like there’re some erosion issues,” said Taft.
The meeting with Minister Todd Stone will be exactly 15 minutes. In that time Taft, Area F director Wendy Booth, potentially Clara Reinhardt and an administrator from RDEK will discuss their concerns. Along with Highway 93/95, the RDEK will also discuss the road condition of Westside Road, but the focus of the meeting will remain on the highway. RDEK and municipality councils from the Columbia Valley will travel to Victoria September 26th to 30th for the convention.