Kamloops British Columbia - Building a 700 metre long metal fence downtown between businesses on West Victoria Street and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) tracks is still a work in process, despite roadwork being completed along the route.
 
The city is trying to build the wall to hold up its end of a deal with the railroad company, having acquired a $200,000 strip of land west of the Sun Life building that it has now landscaped as part of renovations that accompanied the $13 million reconstruction project along West Victoria Street.
 
The municipality is waiting to hear whether its grant application to Transport Canada to cover half the cost of the $600,000 fencing project will be successful, city CAO David Trawin told KTW.
 
"They don't adjudicate the grants until April," he said.
 
The security fence would be decorative, rise seven feet above the ground, and stretch from Overlanders Bridge to First Avenue.
 
It would be a solid, steel-slat fence rather than chain link and resemble one erected in Brandon.
 
Trawin said the fence is an important project to both the city and CP in addressing safety concerns about people crossing the tracks and cutting a chain link fence to access the South Thompson River.
 
Trawin believes there is a good chance the grant will be approved, given the amount of activity on the tracks, and instances in which people have been struck by trains.
 
If the city is unsuccessful in obtaining the $300,000 grant, Trawin said council will have to decide what direction to go next, be it the city completing the entire fence, a part of the structure, or not proceeding at all.
 
The value of the land is being put into the cost of the fence, but Trawin said he does not know if the transaction is 100 percent complete yet.
 
The city, however, has already planted grass and installed a parking lot on that land, which was once brush and dirt.
 
"Hopefully, we find out in April and schedule the fence to go up next year all along the strip," Trawin said.
 
The chain link fence on the other side of the tracks will likely remain in place to maintain barriers on both sides, Trawin said, noting there should be fewer instances of people cutting that fence as a result.
 
Michael Potestio.

  Electrify it !   *o)