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Kelowna city council has given the green light to plans aimed at improving traffic congestion at the site of the new Costco.
As a result, $1.14-million dollars will be invested into upgrading the intersection of Leckie Road with a double left turn lane onto Highway 97.
“The Leckie Road and Highway 97 intersection was a concern from a volume perspective before the Costco proposal and the Costco proposal only exacerbated that,” said community planning manager Ryan Smith.
“It would be a shame, on opening day, if that intersection was not working that well.”
The $1.14 million costs of the upgrade will be split three ways, with Costco set to chip-in the biggest share at $473,300, while the province will kick-in $200,000 and City of Kelowna will pay $466,000 out of reserve funds.
However, the city plans to recover its share of the costs by placing a development charge on future projects built on the corridor between Spall and McCurdy Roads.
Costco is also set to foot the bill for four-lanning Leckie Road between the highway and Springfield Road, putting a traffic signal at Leckie Road and Parkview Crescent and building a double left-turn lane on Springfield Road turning onto Leckie Road.
It’s expected the new store will open this fall.
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