375,000 TO IMPROVE OKANAGAN FOREST SERVICE ROADS

VICTORIA – Okanagan residents will benefit from $375,000 to improve travel and safety conditions on several Okanagan Forest Service roads, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger announced.

“We want to ensure key Forest Service roads continue to keep rural communities connected, as well as enhance people’s quality of life by providing access to popular recreation areas,” said Bell. “Safe routes to local lakes and campsites also help support the Okanagan’s vibrant tourism industry.”

Some of the roads scheduled for improved maintenance are: Little White, Sugar Lake, 201, North Fork, Peachland and Sunset Lake. The Sunset Lake Forest Service road provides access from the Okanagan Connector to lakes and recreation sites on the Thompson Plateau, approximately 50 kilometres west of Okanagan Lake. The main improvement will consist of replacing a wooden bridge deck with a new concrete panel deck.

“These Forest Service Roads are used as critical links to recreation sites in the Okanagan,” said Krueger. “Improvements to these roads will provide safer access for residents and visitors to many remote recreational sites. This funding will help to ensure that these roads are safe for the people who rely on them.”

Spot gravelling, brushing and ditching are planned for Little White, Sugar Lake and North Fork. Funding for the 201 and Peachland Forest Service roads will help maintain substantial upgrades completed last year when Hwy 97 was closed between Summerland and Peachland due to a slide risk. The two roads provided an alternate route between Penticton and Kelowna for both residents and tourists.

“As we saw last October, Forest Service roads can form an integral part of a community’s infrastructure. The 201 and Peachland Forest Service roads helped keep local traffic moving and limited the amount of disruption for visitors,” said Okanagan-Westside MLA Rick Thorpe. “Forest Service roads also play an important role in the Okanagan tourism economy by opening up some of the region’s most beautiful backcountry destinations.”

British Columbia’s 55,000-kilometre network of Forest Service roads is bigger than the provincial highway system. As first announced by Premier Campbell at the 2008 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, the Ministry of Forests and Range is providing $20 million to improve travel conditions on Forest Service roads that serve as crucial transportation links to rural communities and recreation sites. The Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada committed on April 7, 2009 to a further $20 million in shared funding for additional Forest Service road upgrades that will be announced in the coming months.

New road maintenance funding is the latest in a series of initiatives to improve safety on Forest Service Roads, which include the establishment of radio protocols, speed enforcement through expanded use of radar guns, and the expansion of the Vehicle Identification Plates Program.

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Media contact:	Jennifer McLarty Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592

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