Long stretch of Rail Trail in Kelowna will be paved this summer

The City of Kelowna will lay down new asphalt on about 40 lane kilometres of road this summer.

And it will also pave about nine kilometres of the Okanagan Rail Trail.

The gravel stretch of the trail from Dilworth Drive to the UBCO campus will be black-topped at a cost of about $500,000.

Much of the route parallels environmentally sensitive areas along Mill Creek so the work schedule has to accommodate fish spawning times.

Preparation work for street paving in Kelowna is underway, including crack sealing and minor shoulder repairs.

“As in previous years we’ll see some of the work, like on Ellis and Acland roads, completed in conjunction with other projects like painting new bike lanes,” said Darin Thompson of the Roadways Construction department.

The road re-surfacing is expected to be completed by October at a cost of about $3.5 million.