Light rail on rail trail?

[alanjh595]

AND off to the Conspiracy thread we go..........

[Dizzy1]

IF you support Okanagan light rail you will in essence be supporting United Nations Agenda 21/Agenda 30. This will indicate to the "Decision Makers" that you are happy to give up your sovereignty as an "independent driver". Mark my words, this light rail offer might sound appealing but its only a stepping stone to the United Nations development of sustainable cities. Cities in which you are no longer sovereign. Look deeper and think long term. I say a LOUD NO!

[ferri]

[dirtybiker]

:topic:

Oh, that takes us back to the 1880's where the visionaries of the day
deemed trains, the wave of the future.

We have buses that are under utilized, a road network that is twenty plus years behind
in design, up-keep and up grades like over-passes and under-passes.

Then a Mayor who throws out some hair brained (IMO) idea as a possible
smokescreen to divert the attention of the good people away from more
pertinent issues within the City.

Off to the Conspiracy Thread....

[Jhunter199]

Kelowna IMO is just not big enough yet to full utilize LRT. Calgary had their first line up and running in 1981, but also had a population of over 500,000. With Kelowna still under the 200,000 mark, it's not impossible to expect some form of LRT in the next 10-15 years. Especially with Kelowna and surrounding areas pushing more into the rising tech industry.

[spooker]

Could the purpose of the Mayor bringing up the subject during his presentation be just to get the discussion started? Seems like it worked to me ...

Unfortunately by the time we wait for the funding for an LRT to be available the cost will have advanced beyond our reach ... guess that leaves bicycles as the only cost-effective solution

[AlienSoldier]

If you build when you have the population and the equipment is needed NOW, you are already to late. Rail projects are planned at least 5 to 10 years ahead. After the environmental studies, population assessments and disruptions are all taken into account, you are already 3 years into it. The longer you take the build this, the more traffic you will have, the more people will complain about traffic and smog and pollution and the more it will cost and require negotiations as things get built around where it could have been.

[dirtybiker]

Nice smooth slide into that agenda push there spooker.

Well done.

[Dizzy1]

We have buses that are under utilized, a road network that is twenty plus years behind
in design, up-keep and up grades like over-passes and under-passes.

Road network that is 20 years behind? You're being awfully generous

[Nedroj]

Kelowna IMO is just not big enough yet to full utilize LRT. Calgary had their first line up and running in 1981, but also had a population of over 500,000. With Kelowna still under the 200,000 mark, it's not impossible to expect some form of LRT in the next 10-15 years. Especially with Kelowna and surrounding areas pushing more into the rising tech industry.

None of us that have stated positive feedback on this topic feels we need it right now. We all realize that a current population of 351,000 in the Okanagan valley is not enough to utilize a LRT. We simply just want the people in power to start thinking long term. Had the government 50 years ago put more time and thought into the infrastructure of the valley we wouldn’t have as bad of traffic as we do now. And without hardly any options to expand the current highway due to buildings, businesses and houses being in the way and the cost of buying land to construct new “by-passes” sky rocketing and having to go through parkland what other options do we have? It won’t be long before the valley hits a population of 500,000+ and our current roads are not able to keep up with it. And by passes won’t solve this issue because the majority of traffic is LOCAL! People simply coming and going to work or running errands.

I work in west Kelowna and used to live in Rutland, that commute home at 5pm took 1hr without an accident. 1 hr to drive less than 20kms. Think about that.

[Treblehook]

Light Rail.... hmm. Seems to me that there has been limited success in getting people to use the bus service in the area. How is light rail going to be any more successful?

[AlienSoldier]

Light Rail.... hmm. Seems to me that there has been limited success in getting people to use the bus service in the area. How is light rail going to be any more successful?

It depends on what you feel the problem is. I see the problem being poor service, current routes are limited and times for service are also an issue along with where the busses are traveling.

LRT's are made for area's in the 250,000 people ball-park range. They are made to increase stops, reduce energy consumption and provide a way for locals and travels to hop on and off while they explore or go about their days. Most cities in Europe which are the size of Kelowna have them already, same thing with many cities in the US.