Government is investing $45 million over the next five years to make Westside Road safer for local families and tourists, announced Premier Christy Clark and Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo today.

“For too many years now Westside Road has been on the BCAA ‘worst roads’ list and our government is going to fix that,” said Premier Clark. “We made a commitment to improve safety and reliability on Westside Road, and we're delivering.”

Today’s announcement involves two new construction projects with a total estimated cost of $10 million.

Emil Anderson Construction Inc. of Kelowna has been awarded the contract for improvements from Waterfront Farm to Blue Grouse. This 800-metre section of Westside Road will be widened to have 3.6 metre-wide lanes with paved shoulders, roadside barrier and rockfall protection measures. Construction began in late September and will be completed in fall 2015.

A second project at the north end of Westside Road will see an 8.7-kilometre section resurfaced between the Highway 97 junction and Skookum Mine Road, approximately 10 kilometres northwest of Vernon. Okanagan Aggregates Ltd. of Armstrong won the contract and is scheduled to start work in early October and be finished by the end of the month.

“Resurfacing the northern segment of Westside Road will benefit commuters to and from the Vernon area, and provide a smoother more comfortable ride for residents, tourists and everyone who is headed to the variety of recreational sites along Okanagan Lake,” said Kyllo.

Construction and paving may require intermittent delays for traffic as well as scheduled closures of Westside Road for short periods of the day. Information will be posted to: DriveBC.ca

This work builds on the $10.3 million previously invested in realignment, guardrail installation, resurfacing and construction of slow-moving pullouts on Westside Road since 2008.

Since 2001, the Province has invested more than $600 million to upgrade highways, roads, bridges and transit in the Okanagan Valley Corridor.

Learn More:

Details on the Okanagan Valley Corridor at: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/okanaganvalley/

Follow the work of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure online at: www.tranbc.ca

Media Contacts:

Sam Oliphant
Press Secretary
Office of the Premier
250 952-7252

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
250 356-8241