The City of Kamloops Council is getting closer to finalizing the 2025 budget. On March 11, the Committee of the Whole (COTW) will be choosing which supplemental budget items to include in the city’s 2025–2029 Five-Year Financial Plan. While the online comment section is now closed, you can still send your comments to citycouncil@kamloops.ca before the COTW meeting.
Supplemental budget items are definitely an exciting part of budget deliberations. While some might believe that many of these projects should be included in the regular budget, this process gives the community more say about what’s important to us.
The supplemental items we are watching this year are:
- 25.03 Public Cooling Amenities for Heat Relief
- 25.04 Community Bike Valet Service
- 25.05 Schubert Drive Multi-Use Pathway (MUP)
- 25.06 River Street Sidewalk, Trees, and Kamloops Community Network Fibre Extension
- 25.09 Community Request: Downtown Public Realm Improvement Fund
Transition Kamloops believes these would all increase our community’s resilience to future climate impacts and extreme weather.
Schubert Drive Multi-Use Pathway
One item that we are especially hopeful about is the Schubert Drive MUP (see the business case). As one person commented: This path is a huge asset to our city, but it is in terrible shape and is actually dangerous to use. Despite that, it’s still one of the busiest MUPs in Kamloops—so many people of all ages and abilities enjoy this scenic path! Please improve it and make it safe for both speedy commuter cyclists and folks pushing strollers. And build more paths that connect to it!
Turns out that many of us want to see improvements to Schubert Drive MUP, but one Kamloops resident put even more thought into it than the average person and described his idea back in November 2023. Here is Mitchell Forgie’s IDEA Series – Schubert – A really long park? Thanks to professor Joel Wood, an Environmental Economist at Thompson Rivers University, for sharing Mitch’s idea and other thoughtful commentary about living in Kamloops, on Bluesky.
There were three options for the Livability and Sustainability Select Committee to consider.
Option 1 is already budgeted for.
Staff recommended Option 2.
And Option 3, the version recommended by the Livability and Sustainability Committee, was presented to the public and will be considered by Council.
Budget season is a critical time for conversations with our council members, but it’s a good idea to have a quick chat with them about the importance of building community resilience whenever we get a chance throughout the year. Their decisions affect all of us.
Photo on Freepik