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City buying lot in Salmon Arm for future 9th Avenue NE improvements

Property to be used in years ahead when intersection near Tim Hortons can be changed
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On this map, which city staff said is a conceptual drawing for planning and discussion purposes only, the light red lines show how 9th Avenue NE would divert southward over three lots and then eastward to line up with the 8th Avenue NE intersection. The city is purchasing the lot at 881 30th St. NE. (City of Salmon Arm image)

Salmon Arm council approved borrowing for the purchase of a parcel on 30th Street NE to be used in a future intersection near the uptown Tim Hortons.

City staff reported at council’s Aug. 8 meeting that council had recently authorized staff to enter into negotiations to buy the property at 881 30th St. NE. The negotiated price was $530,000. The lot is 1,220 square metres, or about a third of an acre, and includes a single family home and accessory building.

The price will be funded from short-term borrowing.

The property is one of several required for a proposed 9th Avenue/30th Street NE intersection, which is included in the city’s draft 20-year financial plan. The intention is to have the new intersection completed by 2029 dependent on funding and property acquisition. Staff reported the accessory building will likely be removed to accommodate the new road design.

Although the property is zoned single family residential, it is designated commercial in the official community plan.

According to the staff report, 9th Avenue NE would divert south over the property being purchased and two additional lots and then go east to line up with the 8th Avenue NE intersection.

Approximately one-quarter of the property being purchased (on the west side) as well as a small portion of the adjacent Nico’s Nurseryland property is where 9th Avenue NE would divert southward.

The eventual outcome would see the remainder of 9th Avenue NE closed and barricaded to traffic where it now intersects with 30 Street.

Subject to a road closure bylaw and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure approvals, as well as access/egress negotiations with Tim Hortons, staff said the remainder of the existing 9th Avenue portion of road could be amalgamated with the remaining property at 881 30th St. NE.

Coun. Kevin Flynn said he thinks it’s important for the community to understand that, strategically, the purchase fits into road network improvements in the long term.

“That’s a very dangerous intersection at 9th, it’s too close to the Trans-Canada… I don’t want people to realistically think this is going to happen next year, or the year after, but the fact that this property came up, it’s an opportunity for us to assemble a piece that we will need in the future to improve safety and traffic flows,” he said.

“I think staff and the realtor are to be commended for identifying this and giving us this opportunity. Because I think in the long run, the taxpayers are going to win.”

Read more: 2019 - Salmon Arm Tim Hortons intersection bumped from traffic circle plan

Read more: 2017 - First roundabout for Salmon Arm



martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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