Roadwork may finally proceed along a major route in Summerland, B.C., months after FortisBC trigged a delay with the project.
The district began work along Victoria Road South back in the summer of 2023 before the project came to halt, as the district says permission from FortisBC never came through.
“It was in our capital plan to have that whole road repaved last year. For any work within 10 metres of a gas main, you need to get FortisBC’s permission,” said Summerland’s Mayor Doug Holmes.
“To delay those approvals for such a long time, it throws a wrench into everything.”
The delay is not only a cause for concern as the district will have to undergo the same process with three other major projects this year.
But Holmes went on to say that it is also a safety concern for those in the area.
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“We heard that there was a youth who was riding their bike on the pathway there and when they hit the uncompleted part, they took a spill,” said Holmes.
“It was serious enough for an ambulance to have to be called.”
Global News reached out to FortisBC for more information and Fortis confirmed that a permit for the project was issued to the District of Summerland on Wednesday, May 1.
“There was information required to support the permit which FortisBC received last week,” said FortisBC in a statement to Global News.
“Once we received this, we issued the permit.”
Moving forward, Holmes said staff plan to go over the entire capital plan with FortisBC and possibly receive some pre-approval to avoid another delay.
“That’s obviously the way forward and so we need to do that and hopefully a better relationship will come out of this,” said Holmes.
“Because sometimes you need something like this to prove a relationship and move on and make it better. And so that’s what I’m hoping.”
Now that the district has approval, roadwork should begin as soon as crews are able.
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