A proposed new transit route that will link the Lake’s subdivision in Lake Country with the district’s town centre will be a positive thing for businesses in the community.
That word from Lake Country economic development manager Ryan Roycroft, who says the route, set to open in late August, will help keep people in the community and allow them to spend money in Lake Country as opposed to heading out of town.
“I think generally anything that improves mobility around the community is going to be good for business development,” said Roycroft. “It gives potential business owners the assurance that there is going to be potential customer traffic and helps them get staff into the area without taking up parking spots.”
B.C. Transit officials will be in Lake Country this week to talk about the proposed new transit route linking the Lake’s subdivision with the Lake Country town centre. The route will travel from the Lake’s all the way along Bottom Wood Lake Road and into the town centre area before looping back.
Roycroft says the Lake’s is home to many young families and providing transit to those folks is a positive for the community.
“It’s absolutely a positive,” he said. “Especially with the single family homes. The demographic in the Lake’s is younger than you might think which means there are lots of young families with kids there. Those families are going to get a lot of benefits from having transit in the area.”
The Lake’s is nearing the end of its construction build and will have about 1,300 units, from single family homes to townhouses and more dense multi-family units. It’s the most developed of several new subdivisions in Lake Country and Roycroft says hopefully BC Transit will continue to expand its service in Lake Country as the community grows.
“Our hope is in the future we can replicate this in the other major subdivisions,” he said. “It’s important for Lake Country that there be linkages to our commercial area. That way it makes our businesses and restaurants the first stop for potential shoppers or people looking to eat out. We want people to spend their money locally.”
The public meeting to talk about the new route will take place Thursday May 8 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the clubhouse in Winterra in the Lake’s subdivision.
