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City of Salmon Arm aims for overpass funding

Funding for a pedestrian overpass over the CP railway is one of two projects that staff recommended be included in grant applications.

A project that’s been on the city’s wish list for at least a year has moved up the ladder.

Funding for a pedestrian overpass over the CP railway at 17th Avenue NE is one of two projects that staff recommended to city council be included in grant applications under the federal, provincial and Union of BC Municipalities gas tax agreement.

The estimated cost for the overpass, which would be about halfway between the fenced entrance to the foreshore trail and Christmas Island, and below the mailboxes on Lakeshore Drive, is $1.5 million.

The other project is an upgrade to the ultraviolet light disinfection system at the city’s sewage treatment plant, estimated at $650,000.

The two projects came from a list of five on the city’s ‘future capital works’ priority list.

After discussions at the May 14 council meeting, council voted unanimously to include two other projects in the grant applications. They are: an expansion to the airport taxiway, estimated at $850,000, as well as a sanitary sewer gravity collection system for 30th Street SW at the industrial park. The sanitary sewer main extension project is estimated to cost $500,000.

The city’s director of engineering and public works, Robert Niewenhuizen, said the need for an upgrade to the ultraviolet light disinfection system at the city’s sewage treatment plant is a new project that’s been identified recently.

“We’re experiencing problems meeting our criteria – not all the time... We have a percentage of failures allowed,” he said, referring to the Ministry of Environment permit requirements. Along with improving wastewater treatment, the upgrade would provide for future capacity and what’s called redundancy in the disinfection system. That means if one component of treatment fails, a spare is ready to take its place. He said the upgrade must be done, regardless of the grant application’s success. In 2011, Opus Dayton Knight Consulting Engineers were contracted to provide options and design for the upgrade of the UV system.

As for the pedestrian overpass, Niewenhuizen said the project was identified as part of CP Rail’s plans for extending the railway siding in Salmon Arm. Double tracking is intended to reduce delays at crossings downtown.

“This agreement between the city and CP requires that the city begin to plan and budget for public safety improvements including fencing and a pedestrian overpass to address concerns around trespassing and public safety,” he wrote in his report to council.

Last fall, when the city was applying to the provincial Community Recreation Program for improvements to Blackburn Park, the pedestrian overpass at 17th Avenue NE was on the city’s priority list. The Blackburn Park application was not successful.

Although this time around staff had decided the overpass and the sewage treatment plant were the two top priorities, and applying for two projects would be the best approach for success, council decided otherwise.

“If we don’t get one and two (sewage treatment and overpass), and we get three and five (airport and industrial park), jobs would be created, so I don’t see a loss to adding them,” said Coun. Chad Eliason. He noted that with an election year coming up, provincial funds might be more forthcoming.



Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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