Thursday, August 12, 2010

Highway 97 Project Update

It is nearing the middle of August and everyone must be peering up at the west hills wondering when the Highway 97 Winfield to Oyama project is going to get started.

A status update as follows:

  • 100% Detailed Design Complete
  • Finalizing Tender Package
  • Property Acquisition ongoing, it is anticipated that the majority of the alignment will be available by Oct 2010
  • Waiting for CEAA (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) Screening Report approval from Transport Canada: Required before Tendering
  • Consultation with Westbank First Nation (WFN) and Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) still ongoing

The Project is still moving forward and the team anticipates being able to tender the construction contract this year. The design and property acquisition process has dealt with sensitive and complex issues that take time to produce a quality, acceptable product for all stakeholders. A lot of work has gone into the design in consultation with many stakeholders and technical experts. The project team is now reviewing the work so that any issues and concerns that are found, can be dealt with now prior to tendering, when it is much more economical to deal with.

First Nation Consultation is still ongoing and must be completed before moving forward. Our conversations with WFN (Westbank First Nations) and the OKIB (Okanagan Indian Band) have been positive and all parties have worked hard to move things along quickly. However, the issues and concerns we are discussing are sensitive and require time to evaluate properly.

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