Letters from a Vernon elementary school asking for improved safety near the campus have worked.
The Ministry of Transportation is not only putting in a pedestrian/cycling trail on the west side of Pleasant Valley Road from Stickle Road to Vernon Christian School, it’s re-paving the roadway.
“It started with a letter from Mrs. Stensrude’s Grade 2 class, sending a whole raft of letters petitioning for a safer route along Pleasant Valley Road for the students,” said Bob Fleming, Regional District of North Okanagan Electoral Area B BX-Swan Lake director, at Thursday’s Electoral Area Advisory Committee meeting.
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“A couple of years later, after multiple discussions with the ministry, they introduced a cost-sharing program where we can now contribute some money to get some pedestrian accesses and so on on sides of roads. This is one of those.”
Fleming said community works funds from Area B will pay for a portion of it, and highways will pay for a part of it, as well as re-paving the surface, which Fleming only found about in August.
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“It was just going to be a trail but it turns out they’re doing the whole thing and highways approved pulverizing the whole surface to create a proper base before they re-pave,” said Fleming. “They were just going to lay a new surface but JPW (Armstrong-based Road and Bridge Maintenance) said it would be shot in two years.
“So they’re going to take the time, spend the extra money and do it properly. We’re getting a paved pedestrian/cycling trail with it, which will achieve what we were asked to do which is improve pedestrian safety along the side of Pleasant Valley Road up to the school.”
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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