Image credit: City of Kamloops

By Michael Reeve

SUMMIT OVERPASS

‘I think it’s salvageable’; TRU hopes Summit overpass project can proceed despite council’s ultimatum

Feb 7, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — The future of a proposed pedestrian overpass along Summit Drive and McGill Road is unclear following this week’s regular meeting of council.

Kamloops Council allocated $5 million for the project last year, with the funding coming from a one-time provincial Growing Communities Fund grant.

On Tuesday (Feb. 7), Kamloops council voted to send a letter to TRU indicating its support of the project is contingent on it being built at a location further north than one proposed by the school. That ultimatum, however, won’t be making TRU officials fold their hand.

“If that letter comes and says, ‘Either choose our site or we are walking away,’ I guess we won’t have a project — which would be really too bad because I think we are actually pretty close. And the idea that we are wasting time, my understanding and having seen this for the first time in the memo yesterday, they aren’t planning to put a shovel in the ground until 2027 or 2028,” said TRU VP of Administration and Finance Matt Milovick.

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While Milovick agreed with the report conducted in 2012, specifying a further north location, he felt the more recent one does not provide enough data for TRU. That’s why the university is undertaking its own study and has not specified a preferred location.

“We have a lot of aspirations for development along McGill,” said Milovick. “We anticipate at some point in the next five-to-seven years that 35 per cent of our campus population will be at the corner of Summit and McGill. There is going to be a big surge to that side. We just want to make sure we have done enough due diligence to make sure we are spending student and taxpayer money properly.”

From the city’s perspective, Councillor Mike O’Reilly wants to see the overpass move forward, but said time is of the essence.

“If this continues to drag on, we will not wait any longer. Also at the end of the day, our studies — and we as the City of Kamloops, we have done our studies — and our studies say this is the right spot. This is the right spot, not just for TRU but this is the right spot for 100,000 people in the city of Kamloops,” said O’Reilly.

While the city wants a quick resolution, O’Reilly noted it would require a council decision to force a decision from TRU before the school’s report is completed in April.

“We are ready to build this bridge now. We have been doing studies for the last 12 years. Our studies have been saying the exact same spot every time they come back. We have done enough studies, we are comfortable making an investment decision — and we already have, frankly,” added O’Reilly.

Overall, Milovick believes if the parties get together, they can overcome the present challenges.

“It’s still a great project and I think it’s salvageable. But we went into this thinking we would be partners. At this point, we don’t feel like we’ve been treated like partners. We don’t feel like we have been listened to. We want to level the playing field again and make sure we can do this right,” said Milovick.