More should be spent on roads: city

When it comes to maintaining roads up to standard in Williams Lake the city should be spending around $1.4 million a year.

When it comes to maintaining roads up to standard in Williams Lake the city should be spending around $1.4 million a year, chief financial officer Pat Higgins told council during the public budget meeting Tuesday.

Using a graph general manager of planning and operations Geoff Goodall said the city is currently spending approximately $300,000 on paving a year.

“We don’t necessarily do paving every year, but we do paving say every other year and that averages out to about $300,000,” Goodall said. His graph outlined the amount of spending and how it would translate into the state of the city’s roads. If the city continues to spend at its current path, by 2028, 30 per cent of the city’s roads will be  of poor quality, he said.

“We’re not necessarily saying we have to be at the point of $1.4 million, but you need to be at some place where the situation is not continually getting worse,” Goodall said.

Mayor Kerry Cook said Goodall’s numbers indicated the challenges the city faces.

At present, the city is putting $200,000 a year into its paving fund.

Williams Lake Tribune