The Glenmore Valley is booming!
This quiet rural area of 乌鸦传媒, bounded by the Glenmore Highlands (Wilden) on the west and so-called Diamond Mountain on the east, was forever changed with the official opening of John Hindle Drive on Sept. 3, 2018.
This new connection between Highway 97/UBC Okanagan and Glenmore Road, aka the back road to Winfield, brought increasing amounts of traffic every year to an area largely ignored for decades.
However, the City of 乌鸦传媒 always had North Glenmore in mind through its Official Community Plan master growth strategy, 2030 Infrastructure Plan, 10-Year Capital Plan and the multitude of plans which preceded them.
So it should come as no surprise that many of those multi-million-dollar plans are now coming to fruition even as the Glenmore Valley experiences a resurgence of agriculture on fields which lay fallow for years.
The increased traffic and the adoption of the Transportation Accelerator Program (TAP) means five years or more of disruption on the now-popular Glenmore Road. TAP is a strategic initiative designed to speed up the delivery of key transportation projects and strengthen the city乌鸦传媒 transportation network.
The first phase was a sanitary sewer upgrade under the four-lane roadway between Cross and Union roads, completed and then new pavement laid in 2024.
This year, it乌鸦传媒 the $10.3-million Glenmore sanitary sewer trunk extension and four-laning from Union to Snowsell roads, the northern boundary of urban development, 鈥渢o help accommodate continued growth in the area.鈥 Completion was pegged at winter 2025 but two finished lanes were opened this week while the eastern two lanes are now under construction.
Sorry, drivers, but Glenmore Road will then be widened to four lanes from Snowsell to Galiano roads next summer for another $6.5 million. In 2027, it could be Glenmore Road from Galiano to Begbie roads with the final section to John Hindle Drive planned for 2028 - possibly five consecutive years of road construction.
Road frontages along the project boundary are expected to remain rural but an extension of the existing wide, separated multi-use path will connect to a similar path on John Hindle Drive over to Highway 97. For traffic trying to avoid construction, the alternative - busy Highway 97 - is looking better all the time.
Adding to driver headaches this summer was the mill-and-pave project (grinding off the top layer of old pavement and laying new asphalt) on Glenmore Road from Old Meadows to Kane roads. Then Valley Road got the same treatment from Kane to Cross roads. And the city closed the intersection of Kane-Valley to construct a $1.6-million roundabout.
In case you missed the recent announcements, the city is planning a $39-million Glenmore Protective Services Campus on John Hindle Drive near Glenmore Road. Fire Hall #5 will replace the small Glenmore Fire Hall currently located at 550 Valley Rd. N., plus it will serve as a key logistical and operational base for large emergency events, including wildfire response in the Central Okanagan.
It would also house a new $10-million, 9,500-square-foot headquarters for Central Okanagan Search and Rescue, one of the oldest and busiest search and rescue teams in 乌鸦传媒
Meanwhile, back at the corner of Valley and Cross roads, construction of the $11-million phases five and six of massive Glenmore Recreation Park is underway.
Phase one involved site grading, drainage infrastructure and buffering of adjacent agricultural land in 2017. Phase two included construction of two sports fields, and phase three involved the construction of an internal roadway and parking for the sport fields, both completed in 2021.
Phase four involved landscape improvements to the park buffer. Phase five includes a grass turf field, tennis and pickle ball courts, fitness node, skateboard spot, water feature, pathways, sport lighting, landscaping, storm water modification and temporary bathroom building.
Nearby, on Cross Road, pre-construction planning is underway for a $20-million All-Ages Activity Centre with construction in 2026-27.
The activity centre will feature 91 childcare spaces with support through the provincial ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund. The city website says: 鈥淎ctivity centres typically feature large program spaces - sprung floors and high ceilings for dance, yoga, basketball, volleyball, etc.; flexible spaces that can accommodate lots of different types of programs like art, music and community events; and youth spaces for childcare and youth programming.鈥
In 2009, Dr. Knox Middle School replaced a large hayfield at the corner of Valley and Cross roads, and will soon have a new addition to replace nine portables on-site.
Don鈥檛 forget that the city bought the 74-hectare Diamond Mountain for $11.9 million in January 2019 after city council turned down Troika Developments鈥 proposal to build a 1,000-home master planned community south of John Hindle Drive and east of Glenmore Road. No plans for the property, 鈥渁 buffer for the landfill,鈥 have been announced. There will be no public access and it will not become part of the landfill operation, said the city.
With the new, larger sanitary sewer along Glenmore Road, the city is currently designing John Hindle lift station and sewer connections estimated to cost $2.5 million. It will provide a sanitary sewer connection to the landfill and a connection to the future protective services campus. A sewage forcemain will also be constructed from the lift station to the existing gravity sewer system on Glenmore Road. Construction could occur in 2026.
The Glenmore Valley is witnessing the arrival of urban services like four-lane roads, roundabouts, sanitary sewers, extensive recreation facilities, new fire hall, COSAR headquarters, and major off-road pedestrian and cycle pathway.
Despite these, agriculture has not only survived but is growing. Here is partial list of new farming endeavours on the large acreages in one kilometre of Glenmore Road North from Scenic Road to John Hindle Drive.
鈥 New vineyard at 755-753 Glenmore Rd. N.;
鈥 New garlic farm at 845 Glenmore Rd. N.;
鈥 New orchard at 1340 Glenmore Rd. N.;
鈥 New orchard beside hay field at 1460 Glenmore Rd. N.;
鈥 New cherry orchard and Christmas tree farm on dead-end Galiano Road off Glenmore Road.
That agriculture focus is in addition to the huge Northern Cherries processing plant at 1254 Glenmore Rd. N. and its housing for plant workers at 1252 Glenmore Rd. N., Rocking D Ranch training facility, cattle feedlots, large hay fields, and two competing farm product markets right beside each other. Even 乌鸦传媒 Pet Resort at 1301 Glenmore Rd. N. has a hayfield.