City of Kelowna staff asking for $541K increase for Glenmore ATC

Kelowna City Council will be asked to approve an increase of $541,000 to the Glenmore 4 Active Transportation Corridor (ATC) Project next week.

A staff report headed to council on Monday is asking for authorization to amend the 2024 Financial Plan to fund the budget shortfall for the section of the ATC between Dallas and Yates roads.

According to the report the reuse of existing infrastructure was identified early in the design process as an opportunity to reduce project costs and resulted in a current budget of $859,000.

However, detailed design work done in 2023 found that road widening, lighting, transit stop adjustments, minor land acquisition and drainage/regrading along portions of Gordon Drive were needed.

This resulted in an updated project cost of $1.4 million.

Although that is a significant increase, city staff say the project costs remain about 30% lower than other ATC projects in the city.

The money would come from reserves, including surpluses from other ATC projects completed in 2023.

The staff report explains that the Glenmore ATC project will:

• connect to the existing 1.9km multi use pathway running north along Glenmore Road

• extend this multi use pathway southward along Glenmore Road from Dallas Road to Ballou Road,

• construct protected bike lanes on Ballou Road from Glenmore Road to Yates Road,

• connect to the existing 1.6km multi use pathway on Yates Road via a short segment of shared on-street lanes, and

• connect to existing bike lanes on Kane Road.

“These connections will improve access to Watson Road Elementary, Ballou Park and to neighbourhood services in the Glenmore Village Centre,” city staff say.

Staff will be recommending that council approve the budget increase, adding that the project has been tendered and is ready for construction.