Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Aaron Schulze

Juniper Ridge Exit

City of Kamloops, B.C. government meet to discuss secondary access out of Juniper Ridge

Jul 12, 2021 | 10:20 AM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops appears to have a map on moving forward following the issues caused by the July 1 East Interface Fire.

Mayor Ken Christian and Chief Administrative Officer David Trawin met with B.C. Minister of Municipal Affairs Josie Osbourne and Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Katrine Conroy on July 8. This was after Christian met with the executive of the Juniper Community Association.

The big area outlined was a secondary access out of Juniper Ridge, and a dedicated paved road to the west as an extension off Qu’Appelle Boulevard. Christian requested the process for right-of-way across Crown land to tie the extension of Qu’Appelle Boulevard into Rose Hill Road to be sped up.

“The second access for Juniper has always been in the Transportation Master Plan. I think the events of July 1 might precipitate that a little bit faster,” Christian told CFJC Today. “We’re in a good place in terms of some of the private land acquisition that we need because of the expanding subdivisions there.”

Christian added that purchasing Crown land is the preferred route, was the focus in the meetings with the province, and the route in the master plan. He mentioned the Juniper Community Association is looking into emergency accesses into Valleyview Drive, Orchards Walk and Uplands Drive.

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“It’s going to be the easiest build and it’s going to serve the needs of most of the people,” he said. “I’ve asked about the cost and that will come before council I suspect sooner rather than later. Development costs and charges apply and can be used for that. [We] can also look for Crown grant monies when crossing Crown land. There are some hoops to go through in terms of the approval and consultations with stake holders, but we need this now. I think the community association spoke very clearly about having that secondary access, and then some additional accesses to the east side of Juniper that wouldn’t necessarily be permanent.”

The other three key areas outlined include:

• funding and support for implementing Voyent Alert – a notification system that sends personalized messages about emergencies – for the City of Kamloops
• additional funding for interface fire protection, including prescribed burns
• provincial counselling services for the community when there is a wildfire

The City stated within hours of the July 8 meeting ending, Trawin received calls from ministry staff initiating conversations about beginning that process.

Christian encouraged residents to be aware of weather conditions and their surroundings throughout the summer.