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By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: City’s pledge to build second Juniper road is a good start

Jul 7, 2021 | 5:52 AM

KAMLOOPS — FAST TALK IS SOMETIMES easier to get from politicians than fast action, but the City is to be commended for taking to heart the fears of Juniper residents over the shortage of exits from their community.

Yesterday, City CAO Dave Trawin announced he had recommended to City council that planning begin immediately for a second paved road to and from Juniper in the wake of last week’s wildfire that resulted in a somewhat chaotic evacuation for some residents.

Presumably, council will provide a quick official blessing to the proposal at its next public meeting. But residents shouldn’t expect the bulldozers and paving crews to show up any time soon.

By the time the route is nailed down, public consultations are held, the project goes through the planning stages, funding is obtained (it won’t be cheap) and contracts let, it will be quite awhile before any ribbons are cut.

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Still, the commitment to get started on the process is good news.

At a media conference Tuesday, officials praised each other and offered assurances that last week’s evacuation — though difficult — was carried out efficiently. Certainly, no one is faulting the dedication and efforts of first responders and emergency operations personnel.

Clearly, though, the community narrowly dodged a bullet. A lot has to be done between now and the eventual construction of the new road.

One issue is the existing emergency exits. The City is determined to keep them locked for what it says are safety reasons. An obvious question is, how can they be made safe?

Of equal importance is a clearly understood evacuation plan, one that makes sure residents know exactly what to do and won’t have to wait an hour or more to escape a fast-moving wildfire.

The City will, without doubt, be connecting with residents quickly to come up with a strategy. And this might be just the beginning as other communities in the city begin looking at their own circumstances.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, 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.

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.