After much debate and delay, the Okanagan Lake Walkway, from the Peach to the SS Sicamous, is complete.
During the planning process, city council was lambasted for the project for one reason or another.
Rumours of a price tag hovering around $7 million for one proposal certainly raised eyebrows, but in terms of volume, parking earned the top prize in criticism.
The city planned to install plazas along the walkway and replace the angle-parking scheme with parallel parking.
The idea for plazas was quickly quashed and critics argued parallel parking, in addition to reducing the number of parking spots along the beach, would also change the appeal of Lakeshore Drive as a top-notch cruising site.
The angled parking is also key to the success of the Peach City Beach Cruise, which draws thousands of people keen on checking out close to 800 cars decked out in their Sunday best, for the three days of the show.
Credit to city council for admitting parallel parking was a mistake.
An important improvement to the walkway is accessibility.
Letdowns to the street are now even with the street pavement, making access much easier for wheelchair users. The new walkway also allows wheelchair and scooter access to the beach.
The more than one-kilometre walkway, together with other amenities such as benches may seem like an insignificant improvement to the city, but judging by the number of people using the walkway on the weekend, the project can only be considered as a tremendous success.
Kudos.
