North Shuswap Kicker April 2022

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The North Shuswap Kicker April 2022
MoTI to Review Parallel
Path Plans
By Jo Anne Malpass
Shovel or shelf ready: A project which has advanced
to the stage (research, planning and design complete)
where construction can commence immediately. The term
is used in reference to projects which are ‘ready to go’ and
are considered candidates for infrastructure funding.
A parallel pathway along Squilax-Anglemont is one
step closer to being shovel ready, now that a meeting has
been set for April 5, between the Columbia Shuswap Regional
District Community Services and the Ministry of
Transportation and Infrastructure to discuss the feasibility
of the preliminary engineering plans.
CSRD Team Leader Community Services Ryan
Nitchie told the Kicker “we are working with staff from
MoTI to set up a meeting to discuss the preliminary planning
that was completed by Lawson Engineering. Unfortunately,
the flooding event that occurred in the province
in late November caused MoTI staff to re-allocate much of
their staff to repairing the damage caused by that flooding
so they have been delayed in setting up a meeting with
us.”
The North Shuswap Pathway Team started researching
the possibilities of a parallel path for active transportation
on the North Shuswap almost two years ago. To
make sure if was on the right track and residents wanted
this, it put out an on-line survey which saw 329 responses
between July 27 and August 17, 2020. 96% of respondents
said it was important to have a path for safety reasons.
The Team soon realized it would need to focus on
a few specific sections of the Squilax-Anglemont if any
progress was to be made. After looking at each section on
the road and mapping out where there appeared to be fewer
obstacles, the Team focussed on three sections.
With the survey and mapping results in hand, the
Team met with the CSRD operations manager and Director
Jay Simpson. Projects and grant applications like this
need to be managed by local governments. The CSRD
was supportive of the project and Director Simpson agreed
to propose the cost of engineering be included in the next
budget, saying it is a critical piece of infrastructure for
safety and the community has shown its support.
In May of 2021, Lawson Engineering, hired by the
CSRD, did a topographic survey of three sections of a proposed
active transportation pathway from Lakeview Community
Park in Anglemont to Ross Creek Park in Magna
Bay, from Ross Creek Park to Bristow Boat Launch in
Celista and connecting pathways in Scotch Creek. Lawson
provided the CSRD with overall site plans for each
individual priority area, preliminary design considerations,
next steps and cost estimates in October 2021.
There are several federal and provincial grants available
for active transportation projects. Planning for the
2022/23 BC Active Transportation Grant program intake,
which offers up to $500,000 is underway now.
If you would like to know more about the proposed
pathway and the Team, you can go to North Shuswap
Pathway Facebook page or email nspathway@northshuswapbc.com