Background
The Central Okanagan Multi-Modal Corridor (COMC) has been in the Transportation Network and Official Community Plan since 1986 (OCP 2001 - 2020). Significant occurred prior to the development of these initiatives which now allow them to serve as reference documents regarding the direction the community as a whole has envisioned for this area.
Ultimately, the COMC will be a limited-access roadway skirting the northern edge of downtown, then running north to Kelowna International Airport and the University of British Columbia Okanagan. The roadway would be approximately 12 km in length and include provisions for road, rail, trail and transit right-of-way and may approach up to 80 meters in width.
The first phase of this new four-lane roadway runs along the north side of the railroad tracks between Gordon and Spall, traveling underneath the bridge on Bernard Avenue near the Apple Bowl. Opening of this first phase took place December 15, 2006, with landscaping and sidewalk works completed in the spring of 2007.
The City received funding from the LocalMotion Provincial program which allowed construction of the first phase of the Rails with Trails following the existing CN Railway corridor. The first phase of this project parallels the first phase of the COMC from Cerise Drive to Spall Road.
