The District of 100 Mile House Council received a verbal infrastructure update at the Oct. 22 Council meeting.
Joanne Doddridge, the director of economic planning and development, provided information on approved projects and/or projects that were underway, as well as grant applications and other programs.
Airport master plan
Doddridge said the Airport Master Plan was underway, noting consultants were in 100 Mile House last week, meeting with owners and the public to gather information.
"That project is going very well and so we're really happy with that consulting firm," Doddridge told council.
Vision Zero grant for District of 100 Mile House update
Meanwhile, changes have been made to the planned upgrades for the intersection of First Street and Birch Avenue. In early June, the district received $14,000 from the Vision Zero program, which aims to improve road safety and protect pedestrians. The intersection at First Street and Birch Avenue was chosen due to a history of safety concerns.
The upgrades have gone from installing LED flashing stop signs towards a redesigned intersection based on feedback from a traffic engineer, she explained.
"We've had the traffic engineer attend the site, and he has proposed quite a different layout of that intersection that would maybe be more effective in creating more safety for pedestrian traffic,"
Staff are in the process of getting some drawings for the redesigned traffic intersection.
ICBC Vision Zero
Doddridge also said the district has applied for another Vision Zero grant in 2025, where they hope to apply for a 50 per cent share of the project that has been approved by ICBC for the District of 100 Mile House.
"This is a road marking program that they operate where they will send a contractor to the community - and they will review every single sign in the whole municipality and determine if they are the correct signs or if they need to be replaced with different regulatory signs," Doddridge explained.
In addition, there will also be a staff workshop, as well as prepared little booklets showing all of the district's regulatory signage for each of the public works vehicles to make sure they have the appropriate signage in place for safety. ICBC has already covered $13,000 of the cost and the application to Vision Zero will cover the other 50 per cent.
Martin Exeter Hall air conditioning being modernized
The district has plans to modernize the air conditioning and control system of Martin Exeter Hall. Doddridge said to fund the project staff plan to apply for a grant from the Northern Development Initiative Trust.
"It's a pretty big project because of all the electrical work that has to be done, but we have almost half of it already available to us in green funding, and the other half, we hope to apply to NDIT to cover," Doddridge noted.
The application is due by Jan. 31, 2025.
Housing needs report finalized
Doddridge noted the district's Housing Needs Report is also "well on track" and the consultant the district hired aimed to have the final draft finished by the end of the month. She said the report will be presented to council at the November Joint Committee meeting.
Design work for additional projects underway
Council is moving ahead with plans to redesign Centennial Park's washrooms and the 100 Mile House Community Hall. Doddridge noted they have already secured a grant for the community hall project and have funding applications in the works for the washrooms.
She noted council is also nearing the final stages of their Forest Employment Program. The program is examining the different trails in 100 Mile House and what it would take for council to connect them and create "loops of trails for residents."