The Chamber renews its deep concerns regarding the lack of a viable secondary transportation route between Penticton and Kelowna and to urge immediate provincial action to address this critical infrastructure gap. Over the past decade, Highway 97 between Penticton and Kelowna has repeatedly closed due to landslides, wildfires, rockslides,
accidents, and police incidents.
Meanwhile, provincial investments in health care, post-secondary education, and
transportation infrastructure have increasingly centralized critical services in Kelowna, making access to that
city more essential than ever for residents, businesses, and emergency services across the South Okanagan.
Our local business community also continues to report significant operational and financial hardship due to
these repeated transportation disruptions. The inability to reliably move goods, employees, or customers
across the region has real economic consequences, deterring investment, threatening job stability, and
undermining commercial confidence.
The absence of a viable alternative route represents a critical failure in regional
transportation planning, one that continues to jeopardize both the economic stability and public safety of
communities across the South Okanagan.
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- Development, establishment, amendment or termination of any program, policy, directive or guideline of the government of British Columbia or a Provincial entity
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Consumer Issues, Economic Development and Trade, Emergency Preparedness, Employment and Training, Environment, Forestry, Health, Hospitals, Industry, Infrastructure, Internal Trade, Municipal Affairs, Regional Development, Senior Citizens, Small Business, Tourism, Transportation
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