One fall morning in 2009, Joel Kastor of Kaleden was making his daily commute to Princeton to work when he had the misfortune to round the sharp corner at the east end of Yellow Lake after some rocks had broken free of the rock outcrop and tumbled down to the road bed.
He couldn’t avoid the large number of small rocks that were strewn across the road, hitting one on the right front wheel. The rock flattened the tire, and ruined the mag wheel of his 2006 Volkswagon Beetle .
“It was lucky for me that I was able to swing over and hit the wheel versus the engine/transmission,” Kastor said.
“Many things came of this – replacement of struts/alignment (approx $1,000, a new mag wheel (not replaced yet, at $350) and a new tire at $200.
My insurance will not accept this as anything but a collision claim – so I got nailed on the deductable - it really should be on the comprehensive but they said ‘no’ when I phoned in to the claim center.
The claim would have been approx $1,500 – minus the deductable. Then I would have had a loss of claims free status.”
Such occurrances as Kastor’s mishap should be a thing of the past when the present highway improvement work is completed. Plans call for a deep swale on the shoreward side of the road, along with concrete barriers to keep scale from falling on the road. In addition, trouble spots high up on the cliff are being blasted and cleared so that potential sources of rockfall along the lake are limited in the future.
Motorists warned of traffic pitfalls during construction
As the road widening project at Yellow Lake continues into its sixth month, motorists making a daily commute between the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys are starting to get frustrated by the daily delays.
Traffic patterns on the highway are radically different during construction periods than when the dump trucks and excavators are sitting idle.
Traffic interuptions tend to be more disruptive as the project moves westward, increasing the active construction zone. A single lane, alternating traffic pattern could become the norm for the rest of the project, which could result in traffic delays 24/7.
Through the work week, long lines of traffic stream north and south from Yellow Lake every 20 minutes during the day, and vehicle counts are increasing as summer approaches. If there is a slow moving vehicle leading the pack, frustration builds even more, especially for traffic heading towards Keremeos, where passing opportunities are limited. The traffic backup increases during the 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. closures.
For Okanagan bound traffic, problems begin when the convoy of traffic hit the S curves. The road reduces to one lane as vehicles gather downhill speed, at the same location where the road begins a series of sharp curves. Vehicles are, at times, attempting to get to the head of the pack before reaching the intersection at Highway 97; they’re speeding to pass, accelerating downhill, then coming up on tight curves - a situation with high accident potential.
Trying to beat the rush
At the intersection of Highway 97, many local drivers opt to take the “Y” cutoff to the south rather than line up at the true intersection. Access to the highway is much easier here - oncoming traffic is easier to see, and generally one can get onto 97 much faster this way - much to the chagrin of those lining up at the true intersection.
“It’s not illegal,” Keremeos RCMP detachment Sergeant Greg Dickie said of the practice.
“It is actually a safer way to access the highway - but some people see it as ‘jumping the que’.”
Some of those motorists do get peeved when they see what’s going on. In a few cases, motorists, seeing someone “jump the que” pull out right in front of them - with the obvious potential for a serious accident to occur.
Police continue to advise drivers of the necessity to not let unexpected delays result in unsafe driving practises, the consequences of which could far outweigh the inconvenience caused by a few lost minutes.
Keeping track of the corners
The Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department is usually one of the first local emergency service groups to arrive at an accident on Highway 3A, east of the Marron Valley. Accidents occur frequently enough on the S curves all the way down to the intersection with 97 - whether traffic is flowing smoothly or not - to the point where a year or so ago, the fire department began assigning corner numbers to the many curves making up the first four kilometres of Highway 3A west of 97. The department has numbered 10 corners on the short stretch of highway between the Highway 97 junction and the lookout at the top of the S curves.
Accidents, several of which have been fatal, have occurred regularly at the 97 intersection as well since the intersection was constructed in 1948. The speed of modern traffic on 97, as well as the additional distance of having to cross a second lane of traffic to make northbound turns, makes the intersection particularly dicey in the summer months, with the resulting increase in tourist related traffic.
Remnants of past construction efforts
Highway workers performing the present improvements at Yellow Lake have encountered drill steel on the cliffs near the eastern end of the project that probably date back to 1948.
Roadhouse Hill and the Turtle Farm
The steep climb making up the S curves that take Highway 3A out of the Okanagan Valley is well known to long time residents as “Roadhouse Hill.”
The name is derived from a pioneer family by the same name who settled on a 360 acre property in the area in 1909.
Thomas Roadhouse was an experienced stage driver who moved to the area for its dry climate. He suffered from chronic asthma, and the move to the Okanagan climate improved his health.
Roadhouse was a stage driver for L.C. Barnes, and later for Welby’s Stage out of Penticton. As a stage driver, Welby often hauled gold bricks worth $60,000 from the Hedley mines to Penticton.
“Once there was an iron rod sticking out of the lid, as if they were sending a machine part out for repair. The stage was never held up,” he once noted.
The Roadhouse family were known in the early years for the parties they staged at their house, (which was located at the bottom of the S curves) until just a few years ago, when it was torn down.
The house, a couple of decades ago, was referred to as the “Turtle Farm” because of a more recent resident’s propensity for raising turtles.
Residents continue to reference points on the highway in relation to their proximity to the former “turtle farm” to this day.
Kruger and Waterman’s Hill
As Highway 97 rises off Skaha Lake heading towards Kaleden from Penticton, the climb is known locally as Kruger Hill. At the Okanagan Falls end, as the roads winds up the incline north of the falls, Waterman’s Hill is the local moniker. Both names are derived from pioneer families who homesteaded in the area.
Salamander haven
“My dad (the late Dick Marvin) used to talk about the number of salamanders that covered the road along Yellow Lake,” Similkameen Agencies owner Ernie Marvin recalls.
“He recalled times where the road was actually slippery due to the number on the road.”
The lake continues to be an environmental haven, well known for its productive sport fishing. One of the flagpersons working traffic control on the present construction commented recently on the large number of snakes and turtles encountered on the lakeside of the roadway, as did Sagewood Modular Home Park resident Buzz Henshaw, who also noticed a number of turtles sunning themselves on a log in the small pond just east of Yellow Lake.