Traffic Safety - More Lights?

[Rosemary1]

Anyone know if there has ever been any talk in Penticton to add more street lighting on its channel parkway, and stretch of skaha lake to airport turnoff and road into the airport. They are fairly well travelled routes but visibility at night could be better.

[Tony]

The visibility at night is fine if you turn your headlights on.

[fluffy]

Interesting thought. I never really noticed any dark spots, the intersections are well lit along the parkway itself. The airport turnoff is a different story though, I've never paid much attention to peripheral lighting, the stoplights do enough to grab my attention. I wonder if being right at the end of the runway has anything to do with it, not wanting to muddle the area with extra lighting that may detract from the effectiveness of lighting directed at pilots?

[twobits]

Anyone know if there has ever been any talk in Penticton to add more street lighting on its channel parkway, and stretch of skaha lake to airport turnoff and road into the airport. They are fairly well travelled routes but visibility at night could be better.

Channel Parkway is designated Hwy. As such, the Ministry of Hwy's only provide street lighting at intersections and designated pull outs. Just as it is for thousands of miles of other designated Hwy's in the Province. If you are uncomfortable with driving designated Hwy routes with only your headlights, perhaps you should recognize your own comfort level with driving at night.

As to the stretch of Hwy from the Skaha intersection to the airport, you would have to lobby the PIB to see if they are interested in taking on that cost of installation as well as the ongoing power bill. It is after all their jurisdiction since it is reserve land the Hwy ROW passes through, not the City of Penticton lands. Perhaps the new residents of Skaha Hills can join you in that lobby to provide lighting from the taxes they pay the PIB?

[Rosemary1]

Thanks for the information. Just wondered about its status.

[GordonH]

Harvey is Provincial highway there are lighting all along it.
32 St in Vernon is as well, I could go on & on

[twobits]

Harvey is Provincial highway there are lighting all along it.
32 St in Vernon is as well, I could go on & on

Yes it is. And who pays for that lighting outside of intersections gordo? Perhaps you should have checked before you commented?

[GordonH]

Harvey is Provincial highway there are lighting all along it.
32 St in Vernon is as well, I could go on & on

Yes it is. And who pays for that lighting outside of intersections gordo? Perhaps you should have checked before you commented?

Taxpayers

Added later: there is section Highway about a Km (maybe longer) in length between Sicamous & Malakwa, out in middle of nowhere all lite up with lights . Why

[fluffy]

Harvey is Provincial highway there are lighting all along it.
32 St in Vernon is as well, I could go on & on

It's not hard to imagine some sort of partnership arrangement for provincial highways inside city limits. What applies for maintenance might not be the same for design and construction.

[Tony]

Harvey is Provincial highway there are lighting all along it.
32 St in Vernon is as well, I could go on & on

Those are both heavily populated areas. The area the OP is talking about is a barren stretch by the airport to the Channel Parkway. Once again, turn on your headlights, follow the flow of traffic and you should be fine. I see no reason to spend any money on lights for an area that is basically no different than the highway between Kaleden and Penticton.

[onestop67]

As to the stretch of Hwy from the Skaha intersection to the airport, you would have to lobby the PIB to see if they are interested in taking on that cost of installation as well as the ongoing power bill. It is after all their jurisdiction since it is reserve land the Hwy ROW passes through, not the City of Penticton lands. Perhaps the new residents of Skaha Hills can join you in that lobby to provide lighting from the taxes they pay the PIB?

Wrong.

It is Provincial responsibility.

Treaties will provide for unrestricted access for public and commercial traffic on highways. Highways will remain provincial Crown land and are specifically excluded from treaty settlement lands.

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/11001 ... 0100022279

[Ekalahaks]

The visibility at night is fine if you turn your headlights on.

What is the point of this comment? Other than to try and ridicule the OP for asking a question? Why is it that you need to try to knock this person down by using passive aggressive assumptions that they are probably doing "something wrong" to invalidate them as a person? Please tell me how this helps answer the question? What ever happened to simple respect?

It's a valid point and concern. This is an area of town that is increasingly getting busier with the development of the Barefoot Beach Resort and many of their new events and concerts that are happening on the beach in the evenings. There is also a high number of tourists walking along the airport fence carrying their floaties as they return to the campsites & motels after floating down the channel. Additionally, when the wind is right that stretch of road can be obscured by flying sand in the summer and snow in the winter.

There have also been a number of accidents along that stretch of road, some fatal.

The question is valid. The OP deserves a little more respect than a flippant jab.

[LTD]

I disagree there's a million miles of roads and highways should we have lights everywhere, kind of silly really that's why your vehicle comes with headlights, cant see at night means it might be time for an eye test or to re evaluate your skills behind the wheel. Thankfully there aren't any other roads out there that have blowing snow on them.

[pentona]

Perhaps by the airport there is a reason NOT to have lighting. It could be distracting to planes landing?

Ever drive Lakeshore Drive recently after the city replaced the tall lights with LED's? Very hard on your eyes when coming towards them. The lights on the walkway by Okanagan beach are shorter and direct the light downward only. Very nice.

[twobits]

Wrong.

It is Provincial responsibility.

Treaties will provide for unrestricted access for public and commercial traffic on highways. Highways will remain provincial Crown land and are specifically excluded from treaty settlement lands.

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/11001 ... 0100022279

What was wrong? I said Hwy's Dept were the ones to decide on illumination and they do it according to their criteria. For this section of Hwy, it is the Channel Parkway intersection with Skaha Lake Rd and also at the Airport road intersection. If additional lighting is required or desired by the jurisdiction through which the Hwy passes, it would be at the expense of that jurisdiction.
So, for the airport section of Hwy 97, that would be the PIB. And also why I said that the op perhaps contact them given they are creating more traffic there through the development of Skaha Hills, and all the tourists using native lands for all of the campgrounds including the new Barefoot Beach. I do not think there is anything wrong with me suggesting that if the PIB is going to create a commercial and residential hub in that area, that maybe they should be the ones to provide the illumination for their taxpayers and tourist patrons.