In response to The Morning Star article entitled ‘Proposed Closure of Railway Crossing Possible,’ I’d like to first offer my congratulations to Mayor Jim Garlick, Coldstream council and staff for completing the long-awaited Grid Road connecting Highway 97 and Kal Lake Road.
This road takes the pressure off of WestKal Road, which was never designed to support the kind of heavy traffic volume that it has over the recent past, as well as serve as a residential street. I have also noticed a sharp reduction in traffic volume on Kickwillie Loop /WestKal Roads since the Grid Road has opened. I’m sure that it will further decrease once the needed signage is in place to direct people onto the Grid Road who are driving to their Kal Lake and area destinations, and Highway 97 and Okanagan College going the other way.
In regards to the possible closure of the Kickwillie Loop Road railway crossing, the article suggests that closure of the railway crossing might further decrease traffic along WestKal. It would be my guess that it would actually do the opposite as more people would need to use WestKal that would normally take Kickwillie Loop Road such as residents further down WestKal and others wishing to access the WestKal boat launch, the Kalamalka Country Club, Pumphouse Beach and other public lake access sites further down WestKal.
Closing this crossing might also likely have the undesirable effect of increased use of the Kalavista boat launch and heavily used beaches elsewhere on Kal Lake.
Safety is another issue. Many residents living in the neighbourhoods tributary to Kickwillie Loop Road have concerns about access to College Way during winter driving conditions. WestKal provides an alternative route for residents and emergency vehicles when Kickwillie Loop Road and College Way become virtually impassable.
Area residents are concerned that the previous petition and Coldstream council`s recommendations on this matter seem to have been disregarded and that this issue is once again on the table. The current alternate access to WestKal should be considered an important asset and part of the Coldstream road infrastructure for the long term.
Why would an agreement with Kelowna Pacific Rail to either spend a large sum of money to upgrade the railway crossing (despite significantly reduced usage) or close the crossing have been signed without consulting with affected area residents first?
What about a simpler option like stop signs or at least extending the completion date to something more reasonable?
Rein Kahlke, Coldstream
