Kelowna road project faces opposition from users of Munson Pond 

They come for the birds and tranquillity.

Now they’re worried the unique attractions of Munson Pond Park will be lost if the City of Kelowna goes ahead with the Burtch Road Extension between Denver Road and K.L.O. Road.

“It doesn’t make sense that a $20 million road of destruction can endanger this beautiful preservation area,” said Anita Lawry, who has gathered dozens of signatures on a petition against the road project.

“For what purpose?” she said. “It’s a short jaunt. There’s no reason for it. People go one way or the other. They don’t need to go through here.”

Some sanitary sewer work is already underway with the road portion on a right-of-way next to Munson Pond slated for the fall. It’s part of the Transportation Accelerator Program, aimed at addressing rapid growth pressures on the city’s road network.

“We continue to see in our citizen surveys that one of the top concerns for residents is traffic and congestion,” said Chad Williams, senior transportation planning engineer with the City of Kelowna.

He says the project has been planned for several years and points out that the road extension is not going through any wetlands and will be well set back from the pond.

The city will be holding public consultations in the coming weeks, including a public open house at the beginning of May. It will likely face some stiff opposition.

Melissa Perehudoff discovered Munson Pond about five years ago. She references the lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi when speaking about why she’s against the road extension.

“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Pave paradise and put up another road.”

She’s urging the public to get on board and voice their concerns now, before it’s too late.

The $20 million Burtch Road Extension will urbanize the full length of the road including street trees, protected bike lanes, sidewalks, a crosswalk to Munson Pond and a new traffic light at K.L.O. Rd. and Burtch Road.