The Candidates – The Highway
Peachland News asked the candidates for Peachland council questions about themselves and important issues. Below is a question asked and the unedited answers received.
Question 6:
A. Do you support the Hwy. 97 Task Force’s initiative to get the Ministry of Transportation to conduct a business case for both four-laning in place and a bypass?
B. What is the best option for Peachland? A bypass or four-laning in place?
 |
Peter SchierbeckA. I am the one who brought this to Council so I obviously support this decision. This is just part of the planning and study to ensure what is best for Peachland and Peachlanders. This information will be invaluable to Peachland as well as Department of Highways.
B. I am a strong believer in a bypass. There has to be a reason why many communities, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Penticton just to name a few have put in bypasses. I do NOT like to go to Kelowna primarily because of the traffic. They should have looked at a bypass concept. Through traffic does not want to make all the stops required for lights and a bypass will also cut down on our green house gas emissions. I do believe however that there should be good arterial roads to and from the community to the highway. |
 |
Ernie HurdA. Yes
B. In my humble opinion I think improvements to the Hwy through Peachland is the best option. |
 |
Eldon KerbesA. & B. I support the bypass as I wish to avoid the congestion we see in Kelowna and West Kelowna. I therefore support the task force imitative to have MOTI do a comparative study of the two options. |
 |
Eric HallA. We need to know if the bypass is affordable as soon as possible. This impacts so many decisions on development near the existing highway.
B. I am 100% for the bypass and appreciate the volunteer effort that the task force has put into the project. |
 |
Keith FieldingA. Yes – whole heartedly
B. I do not support 4-laning of Highway 97 through Peachland |
 |
Ken WhiteleggA. This is a very complicate matter and for them to look for such a direct and accurate answered you will wait a long time. Remember M.O.T. does not operate on logic therefore to get a straight answer is difficult. I believe if you look around you can already see the direction they are going. Allowing the pump station to be built on hwy property [small building just south of Ponderosa]. New power poles placed on hwy right of way? Allowing traffic signals on hwy 97 very close together that’s not conducive to 4 laning. I support the Hell out of the HWY.97 Task Force but make sure M.O.T.is not serving you heifer dust.B. I believe a bypass is the right answered to our future traffic problems. Again I preach, like for all our planning look into the future. HWY 97 is a major interest to the U.S.A. an Washington State It is in their major plan to divert trafic for 405 on the coast of Oregon and Washington. This traffic is mainly truck travel to Alaska .
During my last time on Council along with Barb Dionne we attended many meeting with the Washington State Group which included their State Senators. At these meetings were the 1st Nations Group US. a representative of the Regional District of Westbank Erin Dinnwoody. |
 |
Lee SawchukA. Yes, I believe that a business case for both should be undertaken. I believe there should be a thorough study of the perceived effects a bypass would have on our Peachland businesses .
B. I believe a truck route bypass is a good option for Peachland. This would take large trucks out of our residential areas and increase the safety of your existing Hwy 97. |
 |
Terry CondonA. Yes I do……I am a member of the Hwy 97 CtteeB. The study will help decide the economic business case. My personal preference is a by pass |
 |
Grant EisworthA. Any initiative to get more information about such an important issue is a Big Plus. Especially if it is conducted by such a large ministry. Bye the Bye, is this initiative going to cost the taxpayers of Peachland anything?
B. Great question for sure. Let’s get all the facts in and see what the voters want. And I mean all the facts, unbiased facts, true facts. Then decisions are easy. At present, I don’t have all the facts to make an educated decision. |
 |
Lindsay BellAnswers not received. |
 |
Charlette BroadowayA. Yes.
B. Answer not received. |
 |
Cindy FortinA. Absolutely. I am not a big fan of costly study after study, at the expense of taxpayers before any decision can be made. But in this case, this is a huge concern for a great number of people in the community and I would definitely work to encourage the MOTI to conduct a business case study on the two options –bypass or four-laning – so that this doesn’t drag on for another 20 or more years with no solution. Let’s get this solved.
B. I would like to see a bypass to help reduce the number of transport trucks and other vehicles that plough through our community along Highway 97 from Drought Hill to Antlers Beach. And, also, it could soon become a bottleneck in that area when the two intersection lights go in. But a bypass is expensive, and the MOTI could drag their heels on that for a long time. We also have no guarantee that vehicles would choose to use the bypass. For these reason, I am anxious for the MOTI to conduct a study on the two options. |
 |
Vern MobergA. Yes is needed serve on committe
B. Hwy’s will decide cost’s a big factor |
Answers submitted by candidates after publication will be added to this post.
You may also like -
- Excited
- Informed
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
Thanks Ernie, dialogue is exactly what is needed and the actual truth about a bypass, not a fairy tale about quiet streets and expansive walkways. having a bypass will cost us buisness and taxes in maintaining our “new” beach ave to antlers. Who is going to pay for that?
It is a fairy tale to think that if highways moves the highway that they will maintain the old one, they used to maintain Princeton, we do now, and if they do what “we” want and put in a costly bypass, they will just hand the old road over to us to maintain. Untill someone can prove otherwise, we should be expecting it.
Mayor Quimby …excellent dialogue. I have done a lot of personal research from info on the net and I will offer these comments.
from my research. The one question that people ask when a bypass is built is where did all the people go? Ask the people and businesses in Princeton after the connector was built. Is this what we want? I for one have never been back to Princeton since the connector was built.
Penticton / Vernon have excellent bypasses because it improves traffic flow around the town center. We already have that. 90% of the traffic that comes through Peachland is local for 9 months of the year. I wonder if the Mayor eats at the A&W …probably not. There are always trucks parked on the hwy going to the dubs. None of you that support the bypass are truck drivers. The bypass if built is higher and will be more treacherous in the winter. I ran into a candidate at the IGA this morning. The discussion was around traffic coming from the south and not stopping in Peachland on the way through. after an event at ie. the south okanagan event center. This would be a great opportunity for the local chamber and local restaurants to offer appi specials to patrons on their way home from the event. Concerts usually run late so this may not apply. Finally the hwy isn’t ours….
If all of you that answered are concerned about traffic going through our community, have a real look at the bypass, it goes through quiet communities that are already in place, it will mean the removal of homes and have an impact on all those that live in the Princeton Ave area. trying to get votes because you support something you know nothing about and have no real knowledge is not smart.
Peter would like the highway moved because it goes by his front door, would he like it moved if it was going to be moved into his front door or perhaps right through his house.
The pump house is temperary and power poles can be moved, highways owns enough of a right of way now to four lane the highway, why would they do the proposed bypass and have to buy up all sorts of properties.
If you live anywhere on the south side of Princeton do you really want a highway going past your front door, a scar on the hillside that you love to look at, or hear the noise of jake brakes 24/7 going down the hill accross the valley, amplified and echoing accross the valley?
Actually take a look at the proposed route, go up in the hills and take a look for yourselves, it is easy to draw a line on a map, a whole lot harder to actually build a road there, especially in the terrain that is there. I’m sure the MOE would have something to say about cutting the deer winter range off as well as wildlife overpasses please the granola crunchers but in reality are not that effective at all.