Wednesday, January 22, 2014

WL Council considers Highway 97 rpt on Feb 4th

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

The City of Williams Lake wants to ensure the public has correct information regarding the city street connections associated with the provincial Highway 97 four-laning project near Toop Road.

At its Jan. 14 regular meeting, Council passed a motion to move forward with Option 1 identified for connections from Highway 97 to city streets, and have staff present a report with suggested revisions and next steps for the option at the Feb. 4 Committee of the Whole meeting.

Option 1 consists of two connections from the new signalized highway intersection at Toop Road. Drivers heading west will have the choice of turning onto McKinnon Road or 11th Avenue. This option essentially maintains traffic patterns as they are today, yet with modern, improved geometry that will vastly improve safety and usability. Two options for street connections were identified last summer, and were the subject of open houses held in August and October. Option 2 added a connection to Johnson Street to the Option 1 concept.

The project to improve this section of Highway 97, as well as associated changes to intersections has been underway since 1996. Several public consultation sessions have been held over that time, including an open house in April 2010, and three open houses in 2013.

Council, at Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday Jan. 21, received a delegation from a citizen’s committee presenting an option for Highway 97 connections involving roundabouts. Council received the delegation’s information and directed staff to share it with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

After considering this report on revisions and next steps, Council will make decisions allowing the province to proceed with the four-laning project.

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