Image Credit: Adam Donnelly / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

EMERGENCY EXIT IMPROVEMENTS

City planning for paved access road connecting Juniper Ridge to Rose Hill

Jul 14, 2021 | 4:41 PM

KAMLOOPS — As wildfires continue to ignite around B.C., the City of Kamloops says action has been taken to improve exit routes in the Juniper Ridge area.

On July 1, an interface fire quickly burned through the hills between Juniper Ridge and Valleyview. This prompted a brief evacuation of some areas, as traffic backed up along Highland Road.

Out of the close call, residents have called for a second paved access road out of the area, and Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian says city hall is taking resident concerns into consideration.

“It’s fitting that they’re reaching out and I think it’s fitting that we’re doing the best that we can to improve on our emergency responses.”

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The bulk of information on the response came from city staff. During a public briefing held in the days that followed, Mayor Ken Christian and council were absent. When asked why elected officials did not participate in the public briefing, Christian said they wanted the emergency operations centre to take the reins, not politicians.

“You want that to be an area that is staffed and operated by subject matter experts, and when they debrief that, you want to hear from the subject matter experts about why they made this decision or didn’t make that decision.”

Out of the interface fire, a second paved access road from Juniper has been recommended to council, and Christian said the city is eyeing a one kilometre stretch from Juniper Ridge to Rose Hill. He noted there are a number of private and Crown land issues to navigate, along with right-of-way boundaries to work through, and the city will also need to plan for traffic flow improvements at the bottom of Rose Hill Road in the Valleyview Drive area.

Working in conjunction with the ongoing housing development, Christian said most of it could be paid for through development cost charges in Juniper West.

“A lot of people have been critical of myself and council for our decisions with respect to expanding the Juniper Ridge area. But I suggest to them that the expansion is part of the solution. The faster we can get the build out there, the faster we can get access from developers to paved roads that’ll make it closer for us to do the connection.”

Longer term plans for a secondary paved road out of Juniper will take some time to implement, so in the meantime the city has been making the existing egress routes more accessible.

“Today actually, they are grading at the Coldwater access point and that’s getting done.” noted Christian, “Immediately after the fire they looked at the Galore route, and that is passable now. They’ve walked the route to the south that would take you from Juniper down to Valleyview – that’s not going to work. And they’ve also walked the east route and talked to some landowners there.”

With several months of wildfire season ahead, and an ongoing climate crisis, the mayor urges all residents in the area to do what they can to prepare for emergencies.

“But understand this. Depending on where the lightning hits, where the wind blows – one, two, three, five exits might not be enough,” Christian says, “So we need as citizens to really be aware of what’s going on in our neighbourhoods and be prepared and take these kinds of precautions.”