Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Who knew a crosswalk could cost $10,000?

Jul 3, 2019 | 10:50 PM

IF A BUSINESS WAS RUN like government, it would go broke for lack of customers, who would soon give up waiting to be served.

Not that governments should be run strictly like businesses but there are times when one wishes for a little more action and a little less conversation, as the song goes.

The Kamloops Pride folks have asked City council to approve the installation of a rainbow crosswalk downtown. Council likes the idea but will mull it over.

Why? It must look at standards. It must research what other cities have done. Which intersection? What kind of paint? How many stripes? Six? A dozen? Vertical? Horizontal?

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Due to all these considerations, it won’t be installed in time for the annual downtown Pride Parade in August. Staff offered to figure the whole thing out and get it done if council would leave it with them. Maybe council should have taken them up on the offer.

But there’s the cost. The estimate is $10,000. It’s going to be a really good crosswalk, mind you. It will last several years, after which it will need a few more thousand dollars for maintenance.

As one councillor put it, $10,000 is “off the charts.”

Indeed. The City of Courtenay painted theirs for $1,500. Campbell River installed a vinyl one for $3,000. Williams Lake spent $2,000.

One has to think a few gallons of exterior porch latex on a prominent part of the parade route here would do the job for now.

Of course, wanting to do it right is understandable. Vandalism is a common problem for rainbow crosswalks, so the quality of materials is important, but surely it shouldn’t take $10,000 and several months to paint a crosswalk.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.