Artists rendering of proposed Summit Drive overpass/via City of Kamloops

The president of Thompson Rivers University is asking City Council to allow the university to complete one final study on the location for the proposed Summit Drive overpass near the intersection with McGill Road.

Brett Fairbairn says TRU commissioned the study – which is expected to be done in April – because it felt there was not enough research done on a location.

His presentation on Tuesday comes after Council sent a letter indicating its support of the project is contingent on the overpass being built about 200 metres north of a location being proposed by TRU.

The city committed $5-million from the province’s Growing Communities Fund towards the overpass in April of last year, with TRU putting up the other $5-million, after an application for grant funding made in 2022 was denied by the Federal Government.

Location of City of Kamloops chosen site (Red), with TRU’s preferred option 200 meters to the south (double arrow)/Via City of Kamloops

“We remain fully committed to proceeding with the project at the location that best matches all the evidence and analysis. We haven’t made any determination in that regard, and simply want to have all the evidence at hand,” Fairbairn said.

“We want to be sure about that location because a more southern location may provide greater relief to the Summit-McGill intersection.”

Fairbairn told Council that TRU’s biggest concern was the safety of students, staff, and members of the public, telling council the Summit Drive and McGill Road intersection was “one of the most crash-prone in the city.”

“The proposed multi-use overpass will separate pedestrians and cyclists from vehicle traffic helping to safeguard all users. But that safety promise only becomes real if the structure is actually used by the vast majority of cyclists and pedestrians who move through the area,” Fairbairn said.

“If we build it in the wrong location, it will greatly reduce the safety impact.”

He also referenced the death of TRU employee Lucy Phua in 2019 and men’s volleyball player Owyn McInnis last November. Both of them were killed in crashes at the intersection of McGill Road and University Drive, a block away from the Summit-McGill intersection.

“Certainly an unspeakable tragedy and one from which our community is still reeling,” Fairbairn said of the Nov. 29 crash that injured volleyball players Riley Brinnen and Owen Waterhouse.

Fairbairn also said while City staff refer to a pair of studies done in 2012 and 2022, the university feels that the 2012 study is “outdated” because of recent and planned housing developments on either side of Summit Drive.

“It is a significant investment for both the City and for TRU, and we know that we have, as you have, a fiduciary responsibility to ensure due diligence on major investments,” Fairbairn said. “At this time, based on the information we’ve got, we lack the confidence that enough research has been done.”

He also told Councillors that the overpass will be built in 2025.

Council wants staff to be part of study’s terms of reference

Following Fairbairn’s presentation, Kamloops council voted to send another letter to TRU, asking that city and staff work closely on the project.

Councillor Katie Neustaeter’s motion also included an ask that city staff be a part of the ongoing study.

“I would also like to include in that letter that our staff have full access to the study that is currently underway,” Neustaeter said.

In a bid to get the City to retract the initial letter, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson invoked Section 131 of the Community Charter that allows him to ask council to reconsider a vote within 30 days of it happening.

Hamer-Jackson was hoping to send a new letter that stated that Kamloops Council and TRU’s Board of Governors and their respective staff members would “continue to have a great working relationship.”

“I think that this bridge is imperative for our whole community, and not just for TRU students but for everyone, including active transportation,” Hamer-Jackson said. “So, I’d like us to reconsider that vote.”

He was voted down 8-1, with several councillor noting that the letter had already been sent and that many of their questions had been by Fairbairn’s presentation.

“We did not say by March 1 we need to know whether you’re in or our or we’re out,” Neustaeter said, of the initial letter.

“We we just looking for that clarification, and what I heard you say, your worship, was that the new information that came forward from Dr. Fairbairn today, came forward as a result of the letter that we sent, so the letter was effective.”