Penticton council agrees to Government Street land swap for hospital access

PENTICTON – A land swap between Penticton and Interior Health is intended to make access to an expanded Penticton Regional Hospital safer.

Penticton city council has agreed to swap approximately 20 square metres of Government Street east of the hospital for approximately the same amount of land owned by Interior Health. The city also agreed to accept an additional 220 square metres of land from Interior Health to be used for road widening to improve hospital access once the new patient care tower is built.

Coun. Judy Sentes, who also sits on the hospital board, said at yesterday's, Dec. 20, city council meeting the plan had been subject to much discussion calling the land swap a small piece of the overall plan to create safe main access to the hospital.

City land administrator Peter Wallace said approximately 8.45 metres of land currently designated as road and utilized as boulevard is needed by the hospital’s general contractor for the construction of a retaining wall in order to allow proper access through the hospital site.

The cost of reconfiguring Government Street will be borne by the hospital’s construction budget, and the city will assume future repairs and maintenance costs.

The city will follow the process required by city bylaws and the Community Charter regarding road closures.

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