MLA for Boundary-Similkameen John Slater was on hand along with Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure employees, members of Wiltech Developments and a representative of Ironman Canada to officially mark the completion of the Yellow Lake highway widening project last Friday.
“We are here to celebrate the opening of the Yellow Lake improvement area,” Slater told approximately 20 people gathered at the the lake’s west end pullout.
He noted the project’s completion of two metres of bike lanes and pullouts for fishing along the shore of the lake.
“I think we have done a great job of fixing this up for everyone using this stretch of highway,” he said noting that the completion date for work done along the four kilometre stretch of highway had to be changed several times due to unexpected difficulties dealing with the rock removal portion of the contract. He further expressed congratulations to everyone involved.
The ceremony presented an opportunity for Slater to field questions about future highway improvements in the region. Specific queries were made regarding when improvements could be expected on Eastside Road along Skaha Lake and the sharp corner at Vaseaux Lake, which has made headlines twice this year because of serious accidents. Slater responded that both projects were under consideration, with a view to presenting a short term solution at Vaseaux Lake prior to implementing a longer term one.
“We are looking at that (Eastside Road) he answered, “there are several issues over there. We hope to start a couple of small projects on the road in the next year.”
Appreciation was also expressed by a cycling enthusiast for the bike lanes.