Lextstasive Library,
Parliament Bldgs., 591 Bullevijje st

Victorias B. C. ;
i Ax4

rH

By RYON GUEDES — CasNews Editor

Castlegar can expect its share of problems as well as benefits
from the completion of its 25-kilometre highway link with Salmo
later this month, ;

Anticipated for nearly 20 years as a much-needed boost for
the economies of both communities, the highway will bypass the
Trail-Montrose-Fruitvale corridor on Highway 3 and provide a
shorter route to Vancouver and Calgary.

At least one firm is building new warehouse facilities in the
city in anticipation of the expected increase in heavy truck traffic.

And estimates “from two reliable sources” indicate the link
will divert more than 200 vehicles daily from what is presently the
main route, according to Paul Oglow, manager of the local Motor
Vehicle Branch office.

“About 1,500 vehicles per day travel the Rossland-Trail
E corridor,” he told the Castlegar News recently. “They figure about
15 per cent will be diverted to the Castlegar-Salmo highway.”

Oglow said he has already noticed a 50-per-cent increase in
sales of logging truck “'T” plates as well as increased requests for
information on regulations and licensing for heavy trucks.

In addition to requirii dditional stocks of e
MVB office has had to provide additional facilities for.examination
of heavy vehicle operators, he said.

Chamber of Commerce, sees Castlegar as a natural stopover for

tourists’ using the highway.

.~ “In terms of the number of miles the average tourist will

travel per day, if they come out of the Okanagan or the
Ki Ci k area, their ling time takes

them right to this area," Sheldon said. “It’s about 160 to 200 tiles

either way.”

But the city has not yet developed adequate facilities to

odate the increased flow of traffic and visitors, he added.

ht now there is no 24-hour truck stop between Cranbrook

and Osoyoos,” the chamber president said. “We're somewhere in’
the middle and it would be an ideal spot.”

He said the city, in order to obtain the lucrative status of a
business centre, also requires additional hotel facilities which
could accommodate conventions as well as enabling commercial
travellers to use Castlegar as a central base from which to conduct
business in the area.

According to Mayor Audrey Moore, one top priority in the

astiegar-Salmo Li

city is development of other main roads to ease the strain on
Columbia Avenue, the city's only arterial road.

She said the city has applied under a special highways
ministry program for a study on Castlegar’s roads system.

“I think the time is coming very fast where we've got to
consider more than one route through the city,” the mayor said. “If
an accident blocks the highway at the south end of town you're not
going to be able to get to the hospital.”

fate

And Searle Sheldon,.president of the Castlegar and District

Wat 2 B
PRELIMINARY SCALING of cliffs Is shown In this photo
taken during the Castlegar-Saimo highway’s early stages of
construction more than six years ago. A highwa: ministry.
official reported this week that crews have finished laying the

“TRUCKS, TRADE AND TRAFFIC

nk: Benefits and Problems|

iby to its

“I would think it's going to be the shortest route between
Vancouver and Calgary," she said, "It should be marked as
Highway 3 throughout the route.”

Sheldon echoed Moore's concern about the identity of the new
highway and warned of possible opposition from the soon-to-be-

d i ince as a main route.

'e must work to keep the new highway as Highway 3," he
said, “And avold the lobbies of groups in Trail and Nelson to have
it labelled Highway 3A or downgraded.”

: ‘“ RRC tin i 2 i
first layer of paving from Ootischenta to the highway summit.

After completion of the final layer of paving work will begin
on the section fram the summit to Salmo.

confirmed that it will be considered part of the main highway
although the future of the route currently fulfilling that function
“hasn't been decided,”

“The new highway will become Highway 3,” he said, “And the
highway that goes through Trail, Montrose and Fruitvale will be
changed to some other designation.”

Also commenting on the clty's application to the ministry fora
roads system study, Baines said the proposed project is “under
advisement" but has not yet been scheduled. He said the study
would require detailed traffic counts and origin and distance
studies before a road development program could be developed.

According to Ald. Len Embree, parking and mobile home
facilities will be major concerns in city planning.

Embree, city council's planning committee chairman, said a
study of parking spaces and their downtown uses will be complete
within two weeks and will be used to plan for the additional traffic
anticipated.

“Surprisingly, it looks as if the biggest problem will be using
the parking space available on a more planned basis,” he said,

Noting that Castlegar's population is expected to reach 10,000
within seven years, the planning committee chairman said the city
now has a mobile homes bylaw but must eventually consider
designating land for use as mobile home ‘parks, The city may also
try to establish some form of overnight parking facilities for
campers, ‘he said.

“One other thing we're looking at is upgrading the community
plan—we've had the same one for three to four years,” Embree
said. “If we're going to get more tourist and commercial traffic
through the city maybe we're going to have to change and modify
our development.”

“We're gong to have to look at whether the highway link is
going to increase the potential of our industrial park,” he

Another area which could be improved, she said, is the
Kinnaird interchange, to Nancy Greene Lake and the
Rossland-Trail corridor.

“I think it's very unfortunate that the cloverleaf is only half a
cloverleaf,” she said. “It makes access and egress very difficult.”
Moore also said she was concerned about the highways

ministry's plans for identifying the route which would result from
the Castlegar-Salmo link.

He said city council's decision last month to join the

Highway

group of B.C. and Alberta

councils,

and interested’

f
individuals promoting use of Highway 3—has provided it with an
opportunity to represent its interests in the route.

said,

“We've got to have a strong voice from several directions,” he

Asked this week about highways ministry plans for

identification of the new route, ministry spokesman Ray Baines

subdivision area.

Council last month repeated its request to the highways
ministry for some form of crossing on Highway 3 near the
subdivision. Commenting this week on the proposed crossing, Ald.

(Cont'd. Pg. A8, Col. 1)

d. "Whether there is going to be a change in commercial
traffic or it's just going over the cloverleaf.”

Ona smaller scale, city council has also expressed its concern
about the hazard posed by the anticipated increase in traffic to
children crossing the highway to and from school in the Crestview

si,

stp iate mabe abi teach ree

‘DEMOLITION CREW makes short work of

than 2,700 cuble metres of rock because It
obstructed the vision of Robson-bound

f.

Vol. 31, No. 36

‘Derelict in His Duties’

Two members of a five-
man panel of experts on nuclear
energy last Wednesday accused
Mines Minister. Jim Chabot of
insensitivity to the concerns of
Genelle residents during tests
for uranium near the China
Creek watershed.

Engineer Daniel Rozon and
geologist Jim Harrison, appear-
ing on the Science Council of
Canada's Committee on Nu-
clear Issue in the Community
panel to answer area residents’
questions on the impact of
nuclear power development,
both singled out the minister
for criticism during the dis-
cussion.

Harrison said Chabot was
“derelict in his duties" for not
keeping citizens informed about
the possible consequences of
uranium exploration.

“Your minister seems to
have failed to understand the
concerns of your community,”
Rozon said.

Harrison said that all that
is needed to start exploration is
to secure a permit from the
provincial government. He said

30 Cents

that once there is a desire to
start surface exploration and
mining, stringent standards set
by the Atomic Energy Control
Board of Canada must be met.

The panel released a list of
mining exploration permits is-

Municipal Affairs Minister
Hugh Curtis’ establishment of a
$3 million water assistance fund
for his own riding does not
mean similar financing is avail-
able to other communities, a
ministry official said this week.

Asked Tuesday about the
recently-announced fund—
which in conjunction with the
regular water assistance pro-
gram under the new Revenue
Sharing Act will offset the cost
of building a permanent water
supply line for the Saanich
peninsula—deputy minister
John Taylor said it was a

NEWS

sued by the provincial govern-
ment which show that the
China Creek Uranium Consor-
tiunt received a permit to drill
at China Creek starting May 23
this year.

Eric Taylor, one of three

Genelle men scheduled to go to
trial in October for their
atlempts to halt the tests,
expressed the anger of that
community by asking why
Manny Consultants had been
allowed to carry out dynamite

Curtis Approves Water Funds for Own Riding

$3M Fund: ‘No Policy Change’

special decision which reflected
no change in ministry. pdlicy.
Unveiling the plan last
week, Curtis said the fund and
its interest will be used to
supplement annually the regu-
lar program by providing the

means to meet debt charges
which would not ordinarily be
covered.

The minister said the sup-
plementary assistance should
“effectively eliminate" debt
costs to the three municipalities

Firefighting Vote
Sought Saturday

Robson residents are
scheduled to apply to the

Arrow Lakes, Selkirk Well
Alternatives Eyed Today .

Two alternatives for a new
Castlegar water supply will be
the topic of a meeting between
city and municipal affairs min-
istry technical staff in Victoria
today.

Consulting engineer Gor-
don Leidal, solicitor Galt Wil-
son and city administrator Bill
Krug will meet with deputy
ministers Chris Woodward and

John Taylor to compare the
feasibility of Castlegar's pro-
posed Arrow Lakes supply and
the Selkirk College aquifer
tested in June by the environ-
ment ministry.

Contacted earlier this week
by the Castlegar News, Taylor
said he and Woodward will
presenta final recommendation

Premier Bill Bennett
will make “a couple of an-
nouncements” at a Rotary
Club luncheon in Castlegar
Tuesday, a Social Credit
caucus spokesman told the
Castlegar News this week.

Caucus administrative
assistant Glen Mitchel! said
the premier, in another of a
series of visits to communi-

‘rock bluff at east end of Brililant Bridge on
High 3. The highways ministry opened
‘tenders in July for the removal of the more

entering an
of the bridge.—CasNeweFotos by Rik Hall

at the end

Premier to Address
Local Rotarians

vince, will arrive at Castle-
gar Airport from Cranbrook

to Municipal Affairs Minister
Hugh Curtis after discussing
the “cost implications” of both
alternatives with the city repre-
sentatives in today’s mecting.

THE,
DELICIOUS:
School lunch ideas.
DEBATE:

power industry.

‘DIVIDERS:

\ dared

Pros and cons of the nuclear

Regional District of Central
Kootenay board Saturday for
permission to hold a November
referendum on establishment of
a volunteer fire department.
Cliffe Churches, chairman
of the five-man residents’ com-
mittee set up to seek adequate
fire protection for the area
between Brilliant Elementary
School and the Keenleyside
Dam, reported yesterday that a
petition bearing 420 signatures
and proposing a fall referendum
(Cont'd. Pg. A2, Col. 5)

Published Bright and Early Every Thursday Morning at “The Crossroads of the Kootenays”

CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1978 ‘Three Sections (A,B&C)

_ Nuclear Experts Hit Mines Minister

blasting in the area on behalf of
the consortium a month before
the permit was issued.

He said the blasting tore
up parts of the watershed and

(Cont'd. Pg. A2, Col. 3)

which, would be using the
system,

Under the regular pro-
gram, up to 75 per cent of the
debt charges exceeding a 2.5-
mill levy in a municipality
would be covered by the pro-
vincial government.

Castlegar, Salmo
Representatives
Plan Opening

Municipal council and -
chamber of commerce repre- <
sentatives from both the Castle-
gar and Salmo areas are sched-
uled to meet tonight to discuss
plans for an opening ceremony
for the soon-to-be-completed,
25-km highway link between
the two communities.

Mayor Audrey Moore told
the Castlegar News the pur-
pose of the meeting, which will -
include Salmo’s Mayor Merle -
Hanson, is to co-ordinate plans
“so we're at least moving in the
same direction.”

STORY

UNSETTLED
weekend. It will

will range from 17° to

conditions
which prevail this morning
will continue theauph into the

cloudy
with some rain and a little
sunshine. Temperature highs

WEVE HAD SOME

“around noon” and address
the Rotarian luncheon at the
Hi Arrow Arms Motor Hotel
at 12:30 p.m. before leaving
for Victoria at 2:30 p.m.

AnnLanders . .
Bill Smiley
Comics
Classified Ads, Real .

The spokesman declined Estate and Automotive...

to comment on the nature of

the premicr’s planned an- Editorials

ties tl the pro-

Create your own living space.
Page AS

.. Page A2
Page BB

Pages Al4-A15-A16-A17

with overnight lows of 11° to
14°. :

Entertainment . . Pages A4-A5
Erma Bombeck . PageB7
Home on the Range. Page All ‘|
Interior Tips . . Page BG
Outdoorsman .... Page A7
Pulpitand Pew . ... PageB3
Sports Pages AG-A7