On Monday night, Montrose council had the same conversation heard in many council chambers in the region over the last few weeks.
At the village’s most recent council meeting, members addressed a letter received from the City of Trail, asking for Montrose’s support in building a second access to Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital.
As in Warfield two weeks ago, councillors were in support of the idea of the second access, but weren’t clear on the plan for the new road.
“I would like to know more about it,” said Councillor Mary Gay. “I need to know where they are putting it and this map doesn’t tell me very much.”
Councillor Steep explained that the route branches off from the current road, between the hospital and J.L. Crowe Secondary, towards Sunningdale and around the north end of the hospital.
“Then I can agree to that,” said Gay.
Steep was also in agreement with the plan.
“If there is a bottle neck on the current road, then they can have a second way in,” he said. “They will probably develop (the north side) into more parking, and there will also be an easier route for an ambulance.”
The council decided to draft a letter in support of the second entrance, motioned by Councillor Cindy Cook.
In Warfield, the decision was made to support the second access in theory, but not necessarily the plan that was put forth by in the correspondence package sent to them.
Rossland has backed Trail’s plan in hopes that Trail will put their support behind the Golden City’s request for their own grant money to do some road repairs.
Though, supporting the proposed entrance wasn’t something that all municipalities in the area chose to do.
In Nelson, councillors requested more information on the plan, but also discussed whether supporting the grant would mean a conflict of interest when it comes to the city requesting their own grant money.
Castlegar discussed the topic during their council meeting on Monday night, determining that supporting the proposal is a conflict of interest. The city is applying for the same grant funding to expand their network of cycling paths.
