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Fiscal Irresponsibility or Future Vision? Kelowna Climate Coalition Challenges Costly Road Projects

Person riding a bike down a road at night.

In the 10 Year Capital Plan set for approval on September 9th, 2024, Kelowna City Council wants to accelerate spending on roads, borrowing $667M plus unspecified interest - and cutting transit and active transportation projects (think bike lanes and sidewalks).  It seems that those on Kelowna City Council and Senior Administration who claim to be concerned about resident affordability, and who say they are fiscally conservative, have lost perspective.



The proposed 10 Year Capital Plan cuts 30 of 36 active transport projects and 10 of 15 transit projects envisioned for the next decade, instead spending money on roads to nowhere offering little benefit to residents.  These projects have doubled to tripled in costs in the last three years.


The new proposed 10-Year Capital Plan spending on Transportation (Source: City Report to Council on 26 August 2024):


This road-centric spend severely impacts affordability – not only for the City itself but for low income citizens and the taxpayer.  The plan calls for borrowing $667M in addition to using the Development Cost Charges of new homes, and taxes – all for road projects that have a very questionable impact of relieving congestion.


Transit moves people at a far lower overall cost than driving for those who can’t afford a car (students, low income households, seniors), especially when you consider all of the social costs—environmental effects of cars, and it doesn’t waste the City’s most valuable resource – land.


Fiscally Conservative?  Not at all.  The plan calls for the City to borrow almost $11,000 plus an unspecified amount of interest for every single regularly occupied household in Kelowna.  This will inevitably lead to increased taxes to pay it back.  This is in addition to the taxes already paid.


The Ask – Make your voice heard!  Write to Doug Gilchrist and to City Council to follow the plans (Imagine Kelowna, Official Community Plan and Transportation Master Plan) that were recently adopted, and to ensure that fiscal restraint is maintained.  The proposed 10 Year Capital Plan is simply one we CANNOT afford, and provides little to no benefit for most of Kelowna.

 

Some Additional Details

Rethink the traditional approach?  Mayor Tom Dyas released a statement after Labour Day Long Weekend that states: “The City has been on a ‘roadways diet’, while focusing on other forms of transportation, and it is now time to rethink the traditional approach to road infrastructure.”  What about borrowing to spend mega bucks on car-centric roads is rethought?


Will these road projects relieve congestion?    These road projects will not relieve the key areas of congestion in the city – with many projects being on the outskirts, and others providing connections to nowhere.  They will add CO2e, NOx, and PM2.5 into the environment, and increase Vehicle Kilometers Travelled (VKT) compared with 2007 volumes, not reduce them.


Councillors have lost perspective and ignored current plans. In the recent 10-year Capital Plan workshop, councillors were saying things like, “people are clamouring for roads”, and “we’ve already spent on bike lanes”. They will support accelerating the spend on large road projects and cut transit and active transportation plans using borrowed money.   This completely ignores the current Transportation Master Plan and the upcoming Climate Resilient Kelowna Strategy.  It looks like they’ve lost perspective – and the leadership required to educate their supporters on what is best for traffic in the city.  People want more roads because they don’t have alternatives.  For example, a parallel express bus route on a congested neighbourhood artery will enable students and those who cannot afford cars to get to school and work and NOT add more cars to the road.  Adding sidewalks to the many neighbourhoods will support more walking.


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