Money getting in the way of Peachland road paving

Too expensive to pave road

Photo: Google Earth

Peachland's Thorne Road

It’s only money that’s preventing one of Peachland’s last unpaved roads from getting an upgrade.

Paving Thorne Road is estimated to cost $500,000, council heard on Tuesday.

“It’s a very high cost,” said Mayor Patrick Van Minsel. “To be very honest, we don’t have that. Our district doesn’t have half a million dollars.”

Van Minsel said the municipality could come up with $100,000. The nine area homeowners would have to form a local service area to cover the rest.

The road also provides access to a farm that’s outside municipal boundaries. Councillors were told that in past discussions the Regional District of Central Okanagan had no desire to contribute to a paving project.

Paving was identified in the 2022 municipal budget as a Priority 2 infrastructure item, which generally means “not this year.”

Municipal staff recommended four inches of asphalt would be needed because of the farm.

“The paving estimate for Thorne Road is currently estimated at $500,000. This includes an asphalt thickness of 100 mm (4 in.) due to the heavy load traffic which frequents the orchard just outside of the district boundary at the top of Thorne Road. For residential roads, 50 mm (2 in.) of asphalt would typically suffice. With the steep grades and heavy traffic present in this area, a lesser thickness of asphalt would result in surface damage such as asphalt creep and pavement rutting,” said a report to council.

Councillors wondered if they could get away with two inches of asphalt.

Finance director Garry Filafilo told council a rough estimate showed that each homeowner would have to pay about $660 per year for 30 years to pay for the project.

Some councillors said they wanted to find a way to get the job done.

“They deserve some kind of decent resolution,” said Coun. Terry Condon about the residents.

In 2012, residents and the municipality teamed up to pay for a water line extension, but the road was left as it was to keep costs down, the report explained.

“Let’s first see what we can do, come back with a few proposals. Look at four and two inch if we have to,” said Mayor Patrick Van Minsel.

Van Minsel told residents who were in the audience the municipality will develop two or three proposals and then talk to the homeowners.