ITU/City Road Closures

[southy]

Darkre I swear if I didn't know better I'd say you were an upper management employee at city hall!

[Darkre]

Darkre I swear if I didn't know better I'd say you were an upper management employee at city hall!

lol, nope

I just think city hall catches a lot of flack that isn't fully deserved.

[Darkre]

BTW, I did send a suggestion to City Hall about how to better improve their communication. If they made it mandatory for every business license holder to provide an email address the city could create a mailing list to email notifications and updates. They could also make it possible for the public to sign up as well. Simple, no cost and better direct communication with the stake holders and interested comunity members. Maybe I should work at city hall

[southy]

BTW, I did send a suggestion to City Hall about how to better improve their communication. If they made it mandatory for every business license holder to provide an email address the city could create a mailing list to email notifications and updates. They could also make it possible for the public to sign up as well. Simple, no cost and better direct communication with the stake holders and interested comunity members. Maybe I should work at city hall

You're on to something and it could be as new communications director for the city of Penticton. I would be really interested in the response you get, if you care to share.

[pentona]

The events that caused road closures 20 years ago provided very little advertising for Penticton and the benefit beyond the event itself was minor. The current road closures may be a minor inconvenience but the benefit to the region is huge.

Now, that may be your opinion but to me its a pile of baloney. Ironman Canada in Penticton had a huge impact on our city; nothing since has ever come close and really put us on the map. Challenge was nothing like Ironman., and it was a huge mistake for the city to let it go. I know many who agree with me on that.

[JagXKR]

The events that caused road closures 20 years ago provided very little advertising for Penticton and the benefit beyond the event itself was minor. The current road closures may be a minor inconvenience but the benefit to the region is huge.

Now, that may be your opinion but to me its a pile of baloney. Ironman Canada in Penticton had a huge impact on our city; nothing since has ever come close and really put us on the map. Challenge was nothing like Ironman., and it was a huge mistake for the city to let it go. I know many who agree with me on that.

And many disagree. This World Championship is much better. Looking at the lists of competitors and the countries they come from is my reasoning. Never saw this many out of country athletes with Ironman. Not even close. Best advertising we could ever get and Ironman did not give us the bang for the buck that this event has/will give us.
You say "nothing since has ever come close and really put us on the map". This has surpassed Ironman and put us on a bigger map. My opinion, and I know many agree with me.

Edit. Should say out of US and Canada instead of "out of country".

[WalterWhite]

Unfortunate how the "me,me,me" attitude that's so prevalent in Kelowna is apparently permeating south based on some of the comments - although I guess it's no surprise as it's like a plague. I've been down to take in the ITU twice, and have not been exposed to the apparent negative impacts some are experiencing as it's been a fantastic experience.

I've chatted with a number of people from all over the world while camped out in various locations to watch the athletes perform. A number of them are parents here with their son and/or daughter that's competing - and they have had nothing but rave reviews of the Peach City. Switzerland, Japan, Russia, Brazil - all countries that people I've had the pleasure of talking with have been from. All were absolutely blown away with the friendliness and beauty of Penticton. You're hosting a world championship - and the world is watching - please, can't some stop the complaining for a few hours a day over the course of a week - just once?

Our Canadian athletes are representing their home country with excellent performances - congratulate and support them, along with the literally thousands of athletes plus their friends/families from all over the world also in town. It'll be winter before you know it and the intermittent road closures will be done for another year. Of course then the attention can re-focus on the poor job the city's doing of clearing the streets......

[southy]

Walter Walter - before you start slagging those who live in Penticton, perhaps you should do a little more investigating as to why some of the locals and businesses are not to pleased, Maybe re-read some of the posts that indicate both the City of Penticton's Mayor and CAO both agree a better job can be done with regard to communication. You worry about Kelowna and from what I've seen posted you do that on a regular basis and we as tax payers will worry about Penticton. Oh by the way, thanks for stopping down this way twice - hope you dropped a few Kelowna green ones for us.

[WalterWhite]

Walter Walter - before you start slagging those who live in Penticton, perhaps you should do a little more investigating as to why some of the locals and businesses are not to pleased, Maybe re-read some of the posts that indicate both the City of Penticton's Mayor and CAO both agree a better job can be done with regard to communication. You worry about Kelowna and from what I've seen posted you do that on a regular basis and we as tax payers will worry about Penticton. Oh by the way, thanks for stopping down this way twice - hope you dropped a few Kelowna green ones for us.

So, what you're saying is I have no business expressing my opinion despite praising what a great venue, overall perception and reception by not only myself, but many international visitors I spoke with over two days visits while spending a generous amount of money st a few businesses. Gotcha. I sure hope you don't have any involvement in the Chamber or tourism industry. Lol - I can only imagine how you must really lose it when someone actually says something negative.

[Tony]

It doesn't matter where you live, if there is a major event in your town, it's going to be an inconvenience. I live in OK Falls, and anything that happens here is going to impact me. If I lived in Vancouver, any major event would be a pain in the butt. The thing is, is that events like ITU create much needed revenue (as pointed out by walterwhite having spent two days here and spending money - thank you for that by the way) that is needed to keep our businesses open, and our citizens employed. I read somewhere where somebody was complaining about Peach Fest because they couldn't get parking. Don't ever forget, after the orchard business the tourism business is what propelled Penticton to a certain level of success. If we drive every major event out of Town, then we will be back to the days post-riot where every one complained because there were NO tourists in Town.

We can't have it both ways, folks. There are many businesses that depend on visitors to our Town. Please don't deny them the ability to make a living and maybe hire a few people along the way. People complain that there's not enough work in Town. The only way to get work in Town is by visitors coming to visit. We don't have a strong manufacturing base, we don't have a technology base, we don't have a lot of things. We have a beautiful city which the world flocks to (and things like ITU bring us to the forefront), we have more wineries than you can shake a stick at (which bring people in spending money), and we have some events.

There's no easy solution to the driving and road closures. All I can say is plan ahead. Make sure you don't have to go the grocery store on the main race day. Don't make plans to visit across town. If it really is unbearable for you, maybe take a few days and go be a tourist in some body else' town. There's always a way around anything. Just work it through, and we'll all get through this together.

[southy]

Walter and Tony .. I do believe the point you are both missing is that no one is saying this a bad event. It's a great event that gives Penticton and the South Okanagan exposure that can't be bought. The major issue is that both ITU organizers and The City have done a not so great job with regard to communication. Is this communication issue fixable? Yes for future events but there will be a lot of fall out and damage control From this years event.

[WalterWhite]

Walter and Tony .. I do believe the point you are both missing is that no one is saying this a bad event. It's a great event that gives Penticton and the South Okanagan exposure that can't be bought. The major issue is that both ITU organizers and The City have done a not so great job with regard to communication. Is this communication issue fixable? Yes for future events but there will be a lot of fall out and damage control From this years event.

http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/new ... -closures/

I think many business owners simply didn't do their own due diligence with the information that was already available. Even your own CAO Peter Weeber considers the issue an "inconvenience" rather than a big issue.

Do I think this is a huge problem? I think it’s an inconvenience.”

As with any event that disrupts the status quo there will always be those that find fault and issue no matter how much planning, communication and advance notice is given. They have to blame someone other than themselves - and as is typical, it's easy to point fingers at city hall. Talk to some of the business owners along Lakeshore Dr. I watched as numerous times event staff permitted vehicles access to and from the numerous motels along the route access during the race event. What more can one ask? The ITU is a world class event now on it's way to other destinations (Denmark 2018). A one time opportunity to reap the benefits of those in attendance looking to spend their tourist dollars. Even some of the wineries impacted by road closures have said they enjoy the cash influx - and admit they could have taken better advantage of some of the information sessions available prior to the event. Some squeaky wheels simply squeak - no matter how much grease is applied.

[Tony]

Walter and Tony .. I do believe the point you are both missing is that no one is saying this a bad event. It's a great event that gives Penticton and the South Okanagan exposure that can't be bought. The major issue is that both ITU organizers and The City have done a not so great job with regard to communication. Is this communication issue fixable? Yes for future events but there will be a lot of fall out and damage control From this years event.

Go on line Southy - the info is there and very handily available. Both the ITU and the Grand Fondo put signage out on the highways telling drivers there will be delays, which is much appreciated. Challenge, however, did nothing and that was a bit of a pain, because I forgot it was on and went to town.

I've learned through experience that no matter how much information you put out there, and no matter which medium you use, people will only see what interests them, and ignore the balance.

[WalterWhite]

Took in the final day of competition today. The closures today were certainly more significant than in previous two I attended as this was the long course. One conversation I did have was with a somewhat older gent that simply asked - "how the hell am I supposed to get to my condo?!" He apparently lived in a beige tower complex on block south of Lakeshore Dr. Now, while I fully commend organizers for the information I certainly was aware of regarding closures and detours, I did have to agree with this gent, as all roads leading to his specific area were closed at least one or two blocks away. That's an issue I can certainly see others having a problem with. Otherwise, it was a fantastic day of competition in near perfect conditions. Hats off to Penticton and event organizers for a great week long event.

[Tony]

Took in the final day of competition today. The closures today were certainly more significant than in previous two I attended as this was the long course. One conversation I did have was with a somewhat older gent that simply asked - "how the hell am I supposed to get to my condo?!" He apparently lived in a beige tower complex on block south of Lakeshore Dr. Now, while I fully commend organizers for the information I certainly was aware of regarding closures and detours, I did have to agree with this gent, as all roads leading to his specific area were closed at least one or two blocks away. That's an issue I can certainly see others having a problem with. Otherwise, it was a fantastic day of competition in near perfect conditions. Hats off to Penticton and event organizers for a great week long event.

Since the City (and hopefully the population) knew of this race well in advance, the easy answer is "why did you leave your condo this morning?" The race didn't just happen. We went to a birthday party yesterday in Penticton, but it was well planned to start after 2:30, when the bulk of the race was over. It wasn't inconvenient at all, and some of the people live on South Main. They were able to get right to it. Plan your day accordingly, and you will have a much easier time.