A Kamloops city Councillor agrees that the road network needs to be connected between Aberdeen and Pineview.

Mike O’Reilly says it comes down to developers who would be interested in building between those neighborhoods. “If you were to look at a map, and people don’t know Aberdeen, Pineview, Dufferin, what it is, it looks odd. It looks odd, there’s a little node to Pineview that really doesn’t have accessibility. And so the mayor rightly said we need to get on with getting that road connected.”

Kamloops mayor Ken Christian says the lack of road connection between Aberdeen and Pineview means limited reach for the Kamloops Fire Department from Hall 7, and means overcrowding at schools in Aberdeen. “When that road does get connected, it will reduce the traffic on Pacific Way and down Aberdeen Drive during rush hour. As anybody who lives up there knows it’s a real pinch point.”

O’Reilly says the city doesn’t typically pay to build roads. “An example of the city paying for one is the new connector road on Hillside (Drive), that goes from the Summit Connector up to the Public Works Yard and ICBC yard. The city paid for that, because there’s no landowner that’s actually getting any value from that road. So if your properties are adjacent to it, typically a developer will pay.”

O’Reilly says the city does pay for some new roads to be built, when no property owner would benefit, but he says this case is different. “A lot of that stuff is market driven, as we know, and we hope those lots will come on sooner than later. But at the end of the day, that’s coming down to the developer and when they want to do that.”

The city does have an “assist factor” for developers who build new roads, where it will cover up to 10% of the cost.

CAO David Trawin in a statement says 90 per cent of the construction for the Hillside Drive from the Summit Connector to McGill was funded by Development Cost Charges (DCCs).

“Only 10 per cent of the project was funded by tax dollars,” Trawin says.

He says DCCs are collected on new developments to help offset the costs of expanding City infrastructure, such as roads, sewer service, storm service, and parks, that is required to accommodate growth and development.

“The development community will contribute approximately $66 million to fund these requirements over the next 10 years,” Trawin noted.

Listen to the full interview with Councillor Mike O’Reilly below.