The City of Kelowna will be conducting a transit study in the Mission.
It will look at two options for the extension of Route 5 (Gordon/Downtown) to include DeHart Road, or possibly as far south as McClure Road. The study will also review Routes 15, 16, and 17 for restructuring opportunities.
“The primary objectives of the study are to improve connections to local secondary schools from the various Mission neighbourhoods, particularly better connecting Canyon Falls Middle School,” said Mike Kittmer, transit service coordinator, City of Kelowna. “Also, improving the convenience of transit for trips across the hillside neighbourhoods, reducing the number of transfers and overall travel time required for trips from the Lower Mission to points throughout the city.”
The study will be done in partnership with BC Transit and will involve public engagement.
“BC Transit will be developing a project website where people can interact with project information,” added Kittmer. “An online survey will be administered through that website allowing people to provide their feedback and share their ideas around the network options that will develop.”
Initial analysis of route options and changes to travel demand start this month. The project website and public engagement will be done in April/May. A final draft report to stakeholders and council should be completed by July. Route changes won’t likely be made until January 2023. Kittmer added separate studies, looking at enhancing or replacing several transit exchanges, which have been underway since 2020.
“Facilities include Mission, Orchard Park, and Rutland exchanges and also the YLW transit station and more recently Okanagan College exchange,” he said. “The objective of these studies is to address specific operational issues at some of these facilities and prepare them for future service levels and ridership envisioned in our plans, particularly the Transportation Master Plan.”
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@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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