TRU president Brett Fairbairn addresses Kamloops council (Image credit: Mel Rothenburger).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: There’s still a lot of fence mending to do between City and TRU

Feb 28, 2024 | 5:55 AM

THERE’S STILL A LOT of fence mending to do between Thompson Rivers University and Kamloops City council.

TRU president Brett Fairbairn visited yesterday’s council meeting in the wake of council’s tough-talking insistence that the Summit Drive pedestrian-cyclist overpass must go where the City says it should go.

TRU, on the other hand, wants to do its own study on location.

It was a cordial meet-up, with none of the inflammatory language that characterized the earlier council-only discussion — it’s harder to talk tough when you’re meeting face to face.

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Fairbairn, however, outlined TRU’s concerns about the intersection at Summit and McGill, which he labeled as one of the city’s most dangerous. He became emotional as he reminded council of two fatal crashes there involving people from campus.

He pointed out that, in addition to studies of the proposed overpass in 2012 and 2022, a third was done in 2021 that wasn’t mentioned when council was talking about it. That study pointed to a location closer to the McGill-Summit crosswalk, where TRU wants it.

The disagreement hinges on proximity to the crosswalk. TRU worries that if the overpass is located more to the north, it will reduce the safety impact on students, whereas council insists it would make the overpass more useful to residents at large.

Council resolved to keep working with TRU on the issue but to tell TRU it wants input on its study’s terms of reference. Since TRU is paying for the cost of the study, there’s no reason the City should have any say in it.

And Fairbairn made what might be the most salient point of the day: TRU’s study won’t delay construction of the overpass for one second, even with the City’s sudden urgency to get shovels in the ground.

So let TRU do its due diligence and butt out until the new study is finished in April. It will allow some time for fences to mend.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. 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 Pattison Media.