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August 14, 2013
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New stretch of Highway 97 to open Friday KEVIN PARNELL STAFF REPORTER
Sharing the road The Okanagan Car Share Co-op is up and running with its first two vehicles . ...............................
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Party in the park Summer Jam is back, offering plenty of fun for the whole family in Swalwell Park this Saturday. ...............................
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Flyers ■ Home Depot ■ Lake Country Builders Mart ■ Rona ■ Shoppers ■ Staples
The new four-lane stretch of Highway 97 through Lake Country will officially open Friday, Aug. 16. While final preparations continue to open the stretch of road that will eliminate a dangerous and winding sevenkilometre section of highway that runs along Wood Lake, neither the provincial government nor the District of Lake Country had officially made an announcement about the opening as of Monday morning. But the Lake Country Chamber of Commerce had sent out invitations to a public event this Friday, calling for dignitaries and others to gather as the new four-lane highway opens. “It’s very exciting,” said Michael Mercer, the District of Lake Country’s director of engineering and operations. “There will be a different dynamic with traveling though that stretch. We’ve been working with highways on what this will look like and how things are going to flow once it opens.” With the opening of the highway in the hands of the provincial govern ment, the district was waiting for the province to officially announce an opening date for the highway that will re-route traffic around
CONTRIBUTED
TRAFFIC TURNS OFF Highway 97 onto the new Pelmewash Parkway (formerly Highway 97 alongside Wood Lake) prior to the opening
of the new stretch of highway slated to open on Friday afternoon. Oyama and Wood Lake, up over the hills of Lake Country, re-connecting with the old highway close to Winfield, near the south end of Wood Lake. “I think it’s going to be a positive,” said Mercer. “We can see in the whole Okanagan Valley corridor there is more demand put on northsouth traffic patterns. This has been in the works with the province for awhile. We’re going to have to see how the dynamic plays out. The
bulk of the traffic, we’re assuming, will take the new highway. How locals and tourists use the roads, we’re just going to see how that plays out.” Once the highway opens, the province will still control the old Highway 97, to be known as Pelmewash Parkway. Negotiations are underway about the change-over to district control, but Lake Country officials say it could still take some time and planning. The seven-kilometre stretch of highway will
eventually come under DLC control and the district has asked the province to immediately reduce the speed limit to 50 kilometres per hour. “It will become a local road and obviously people are excited about the new route,” said Mercer. “There are a lot of things to talk about and a lot of things to figure out from address changes to speed limits and where the properties are located (along Pelmewash).” According to the chamber, the public is in-
vited to attend the opening of the new stretch starting at noon on Aug. 16, with the official opening slated for 2 p.m. The chamber says folks can bike, walk or run on the highway prior to the official opening. There will also be refreshments and picture-taking available and the public can write their names on the new highway in chalk and have pictures taken. The official opening ceremonies will take place at 2 p.m. with local and visiting dignitar-
ies in the area where the new strech joins the old Highway 97 at the Winfield end. The dignitaries will be then be involved in the inaugural vehicle procession along the highway, followed by members of area car clubs. Anyone wishing to run or bike onthe road prior to the offcicial opening ceremony is asked to contact the Lake Country Chamber of Commerce office at 250-766-5670 or email manager@lakecountrychamber.com.
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