$90 Million for 2015 Kelowna Development Projects

It's an investment costing more than $90 million, but it's an investment that will propel Kelowna into the future.

Construction plans, utility upgrades, paving plans and park improvements for the upcoming year were the topic of discussion at the 2015 Capital Projects presentation on Thursday afternoon.

“We conduct this annual presentation for the media so that they can let residents know what’s happening in their neighbourhoods and other construction activity they might encounter as they’re driving through the City,” said Alan Newcombe, Infrastructure Director. “It gives residents a heads-up to allow them to consider an alternate travel route, or just to inform them about the work they see being done.”

Major projects for 2015 include the new RCMP building, park improvements, transit upgrades, road upgrades and development, and parkade construction. Funding will be derived from municipal, provincial, and federal sources.

Photo credit: KelownaNow.

Pavement management will also be at the forefront of the City's 2015 capital projects agenda. The pavement program is expected to rehabilitate Kelowna's roads and will include the revitalization of 13 road segments. The budget for this project is $2.8 million and will cover more than 18 kilometres of resurfacing.

A couple of other minor projects on the horizon include drainage upgrades and sidewalk expansion and improvement initiatives. Lakeshore and Ethel are two of Kelowna's major roads to see sidewalk improvements and upgrades.

Kelowna's airport is expanding rapidly and in 2015 alone, YLW can expect seven capital projects to improve their expanding facilities and amenities. Proposed to kick off in May 2015, the budget for airport capital projects is $55.6 million.

“It takes a lot of coordination to get close to 100 projects all going in the right direction,” said Newcombe. “And we are always grateful for the patience and understanding our residents and businesses show for the crews doing the work. It can be difficult while the work is going on, but the work is necessary to keep our city in good condition and continues to make Kelowna a great place to live.”

There's a lot of investment and development happening in the City of Kelowna and in order to do every major project justice, KelownaNow will be writing an in-depth development feature on a weekly basis.

Check in every Wednesday to see which of the several major projects I'll be covering. Next week, I'll be kicking off the series with Kelowna's park development plans.