BY LORNE ECKERSLEY
Advance staff
In a press release issued on June 15, School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) has said it does not support a proposal to realign Highway 3 to Cook Street at 16th Avenue.
The press release: “The SD8 (Kootenay Lake) School Board has recently become aware of publicity regarding the Town of Creston’s continued plan to pursue a Canyon Street and Highway realignment project that would have significant impact on the property where Prince Charles Secondary School is located.
“In 2015-2016 the Board of Education consulted widely and gathered much information pertaining to its facilities and property. During the consultation period the Board heard the following impacts from staff and community regarding the proposed bypass project as it is currently conceptualized:
1. Loss of instructional space given the impact on the Prince Charles Secondary School playing field;
2. Safety concerns with anticipated increased traffic bordering the school property as well as the intersection itself for student crossings;
3. Reduction in air quality from increased traffic, particularly large trucks.
“These concerns were validated for the Board through a professional report regarding the Town of Creston’s proposal.
“In October, 2016 the Board of Education sent a letter to the Town of Creston and expressed the concerns that had been raised. As such, the SD8 (Kootenay Lake) Board of Education denied the town’s request for access to and a transfer of ownership for the portion of the property on which Prince Charles Secondary School sits, in order to facilitate the town’s plans for the proposed bypass. The Board of Education also advised the Town of Creston of its concerns through the town’s consultation process relative to the development of its Official Community Plan. We have yet to see a new plan emerge from the Town of Creston.
“The Board recognizes the challenges faced when changing and improving infra-structure and looks forward to the Town of Creston’s successful completion of its traffic rerouting project through a plan that doesn’t compromise the students and learning programs at Prince Charles Secondary School. “
Mayor Ron Toyota responds: “SD8 doesn’t seem to realize that the highway realignment is a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure priority, and that the Department of Highways will be designing the realignment at Canyon Street and 16th Avenue, just as it did at the Pine Street intersection,” Toyota said.
The Town of Creston supports the realignment, he said, and is willing to work with the school district to accommodate the loss of a corner of the PCSS playing field.
“We have offered to construct tennis courts elsewhere so that the playing fields can be moved to the south,” he said. “There will likely be no overall loss in playing field space.”
Toyota also pointed out that there is no final design from the Department of Highways, which currently plans to put out a call for proposals in 2018.
“The largest portion of land required is the strip that includes two buildings—the former school board office and alternate school—that are no longer in use. This would be purchased by MoTI and hopefully the funds would be used for local PCSS capital projects. The amount of land required from the existing playing field is under an acre.”