To the editor:
The Westside Road was in tough shape when the current provincial government came into office in the early 2000’s. There was little money available to improve it even when part of it fell into Okanagan Lake in 2003. But the government took action.
First the local BC Liberal MLA encouraged the setting up of a citizens committee to help the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure determine the priorities for the road as seen by those who lived along the road. The MOTI increased their attention to the road by carefully planning around those priorities. The committee worked with both the MOTI and the MLA/Cabinet Ministers to learn about the various geological, geotechnical, environmental and heritage entities which had to be considered and adhered to. The committee worked in an encouraging fashion – not bashing the government or the MOTI in any of the media. The MLAs kept the Cabinet well informed even while no money was available. All this resulted in many shovel ready projects when money became available.
Eventually the responsible fiscal actions of the BC Liberal government saw sufficient moneys to greatly improve the road in 2014 with $45 million investment. Combining the shovel ready projects with those monies sees the improvements in full swing today, scheduled for completion in 2019.
This government plans. They work with people in their own ministries and in the public, looking at lasting, long term benefits and ensuring jobs are created. They work to make money available for things needed for the people of B.C. Even today as announcements are being made, we can all be confident that every project has been well considered and planned in a way to benefit the province of B.C..
Peter Wannop, West Kelowna