Lakeshore Drive is a key road in Salmon Arm, but according to one resident, it’s in dire need of upgrades.
Marlene Glazenburg says she and her husband often walk down Lakeshore and have noticed tiny slides of sediment on the bank of the road.
“It could just give way,” she says.
She is also concerned about the numerous cracks, including a major one down the centre line, in the pavement between Sixth Avenue and 10th Avenue.
“I’m not an engineer but I think that means there is movement there,” said Glazenburg.
Although the cracks have been repaired numerous times, she says they’re getting worse.
To make matters more complicated for Glazenburg, the city is looking at putting an underpass at the end of Ross Street.
“I’m worried about the city spending money on an underpass when we have a road with such bad infrastructure,” said Glazenburg. “I don’t feel we should be spending all this money on that when we have this problem.”
Rob Niewenhuizen, the city’s director of public works and engineering, said city staff were advised of some sloughing towards CP Rail, have investigated, and have been monitoring cracks in the road to see if they’re getting any worse.
“There have been cracks in that road for a long time, so she might be noticing something that’s been there for quite a while,” he said, noting that cracks will expand and contract with frost.
He said if there’s further slippage, more analysis would be required by a geotechnical engineer.
Niewenhuizen said the underpass has been on the books since the late 1980s and it’s something council identified in the city’s strategic plan.
He said he believes the 240 kilometres of paved roads in the community are managed fairly well.
“Maintain the roads that you can maintain now and leave the other ones until you can afford to rebuild them. You have to balance your budgets, you can only do what you can do,” he said, noting Lakeshore is similar to Canoe Beach Drive, where the city’s process includes having it analyzed, doing an initial repair and then coming up with a long-term solution. “But those long-term solutions cost a lot of money.”
Another problem Glazenburg sees with Lakeshore Drive is the lack of safety for people who have to walk the narrow road.
In 2011, residents lobbied to gather support for a sidewalk on Lakeshore Drive.
“These problems keep coming back up,” said Glazenburg. “I don’t think it’s something we can ignore.”