From cowpath to city road

Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet

Members of West Kelowna Council along with MP Dan Albas take the first walk along the newly completed Westlake Road

The $6.2M upgrade to Westlake Road was officially opened Wednesday.

Funding for the project came from various sources including the federal Gas Tax Fund ($500,000), ICBC ($98,000), local Development Costs Charges ($3.9M) and the District of West Kelowna ($1.63M).

The project upgraded nearly 2km of Westlake Road from Highway 97 to Starlight Crescent.

Photo: Wayne Moore

Cutting the ribbon at Westlake Rd.

It includes a roundabout, 1.5m wide cycling lanes, left turn lanes onto Industrial and Sussex roads, sidewalks from Stevens Road to Highway 97, 56 street lights plus replacement of an aging water main.

The project also included a special turtle corridor under the road near the pond just past Stevens Road.

West Kelowna Mayor, Doug Findlater, says the project is part of the district's ongoing commitment to upgrade what he calls paved cowpaths into urban arterial roads.

The project was originally scheduled to be complete in time for the start of school in September, however, some crews were diverted to emergency repairs on Gellatly Road in the spring forcing some construction delays.

Findlater says there are several more road projects on the horizon including Gellatly, Boucherie, Glenrosa and Shannon Lake roads.

He says it will be up to the newly elected council to determine the next set of priorities.

Findlater did indicate that scheduled improvements to Gellatly Road near the area of the slope failure in the spring is engineered and shovel ready.