The more permanent fix for vehicle access to Katherine Lake Park was reported as 90 per cent complete at the Oct. 24 Sunshine Coast Regional District finance committee meeting. Coast Reporter took a drive by the access roads entry on Oct. 22 and noted the barricades closing the route had been removed with a few warning cones still in place to alert drivers to road shoulder edges.
Vehicle tracks were visible crossing the area of the culvert which washed out in February. The washout forced the local government to immediately close both vehicle and pedestrian access to the park. That closure which continued into the spring and threatened to delay the usual late May opening of the park, which includes a popular campground. With the assistance of a local contractor, a temporary fix was put in place and saved the 2024 season for campers and beach goers alike.
In the fall the route was closed again so that longer term repairs could be completed. Those were budgeted at $200,000 and included the install of a new single culvert that is 2.4 metres in diameter. According to an email from SCRD communication manager Aidan Buckley culvert “sizing was determined by a detailed flow analysis of Garden Bay Creek (which flows through the culvert) and is designed to meet contemporary standards for streamflow/stormwater management”.
There was discussion of capital and capital replacement planning for park assets such as Katherine Lake at the Oct. 24 committee meeting. A staff report on that meeting’s agenda noted the an interim capital plan for Parks Department assets was initially adopted during the 2023 budget but had not been substantially updated during 2024.
The committee recommended that $210,000 of capital expenditures for the Parks Service included in the 2025 budget, funded through reserves. If endorsed by the board on Nov 14, that recommendation will move forward in next year's financial plan.
