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Letter: Lake Country roads in desperate need of repair

No road ever gets done from end to end.
14045398_web1_letter-to-the-editor-PM

To the editor:

I hope there is a plan to get pothole repair done on our roads before winter comes again. I’m no road maintenance expert but I do know that small potholes turn into big ones if not filled and that condition gets worse through winters freeze and thaw.

The current practice of a worker with a pickup truck and a scoop of asphalt in the back and a shovel filling a few holes and driving off is just not cutting it.

No road ever gets done from end to end — Seaton Road where I live is a good example; holes from one end to the other with the corners particularly bad. Shanks Road is another really bad one in terrible condition.

I know it’s not financially possible to repave all the needy roads in Lake Country but surely a dedicated crew with proper equipment (bigger truckload and compactor) could get a lot of repairs done in a couple weeks, maybe even completing an entire road before doing the next.

Even the recent road repair done in the roundabout near City Hall, while done more professionally, disrupted traffic for days and still, areas marked to get repaired were not done.

A huge amount of money has been spent on the Pelmewash Parkway project to attract and impress tourists but they wouldn’t be thrilled by the local roads. Another project that seems out of place is the sidewalk put in on Okanagan Centre Road between Camp and Seaton roads. It looks very nice but how many people does it serve? It doesn’t connect to any other sidewalks or high foot traffic areas. It would have made far more sense to connect the Camp Road sidewalk from Seaton Road to the Firehall on Okanagan Centre along a dangerous, windy and pothole-laden section of Camp Road so we’d have a sidewalk all the way from Jack Seaton Park to the fire hall. Perhaps if the current council doesn’t see fit to improve our roads, the next one will.

Charlie Titman

Lake Country