More than 1,500 people have signed a parliamentary petition calling for a new access route between Penticton, B.C., and Kelowna, following several closures to the existing highway due to landslides and wildfires over the years.

The petition suggests creating a new route connecting Kelowna and Naramata.

It’s sponsored by Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Helena Konanz, and was launched by Penticton local Kandace Sztepanacz, whose partner frequently commutes along the highway to get to Kelowna.

“The Okanagan Valley, we travel a lot. From Osoyoos up to Kelowna, a lot of stuff is in Kelowna that a lot of smaller communities down here need,” Sztepanacz said.

She said her family has experienced everything from missed flights and missed work to long delays on the road. 

“It’s frustrating. There’s been frustration for a long time now.”

Highway 97 is the quickest route into and out of Kelowna, and links the southern Okanagan with the central and northern parts.

It’s an important route for people in smaller communities who need to get to Kelowna for more complex medical care, Konanz said, and critical for health-care, fire and emergency responders to travel throughout the region.

Over the last couple decades, several landslides near Summerland, which is located partway along the route, have cut off that access. Last summer the Drought Hill Wildfire closed Highway 97 between Peachland and Kelowna.

In 2008, the highway was closed for 19 days after a large fissure was discovered in a slope above it. Landslides also occurred in 2014, 2019 and 2023, and last December, a rockfall briefly shutdown the roadway and caused lengthy delays.

Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes told CBC News the closures have a significant impact on communities throughout the Okanagan Valley. 

“It’s kind of our life blood connecting the valley. We have a lot of people who commute to Kelowna, commute to Penticton and that traffic impacts people,” said Holmes.

Konanz will be presenting the petition to the House of Commons later this year.

She said she wants to see the federal government pitch in with funding to help clear what’s left of the 2023 landslide, which deposited 3,000 cubic metres of debris on the highway north of Summerland.

Once a petition is presented, the federal government is required to respond within 45 days.

“In the past, Highway 97 was upgraded by the federal government. What I would like to see is a response from the government, letting us know that they will help with the clearing of the landslide that has been there for a couple years now, so that the provincial government could focus on an alternative route,” Konanz said. 

Local leaders, including Konanz, have also been pressing for upgrades to the 201 Forest Service Road so it can be used as an alternative in the event of a closure to Highway 97. The road connects Penticton to Highway 33 near Kelowna, and adds extra travel time.

Currently, the forest service road is not paved, and vehicles can get stuck while trying to drive through it. There is also no cellphone service.

In a statement, B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit told CBC News that it understands the importance of Highway 97 in connecting communities throughout the Okanagan.

It noted there are possible alternate highway routes available to the east and west during emergencies, although those options add almost 200 kilometres to the trip.

“During emergencies on provincial highways the ministry works closely with emergency response agencies to reopen roads as soon as it is safe,” the ministry said.

The parliamentary petition closes in March. Sztepanacz said she hopes it will send a clear message to the federal government that there is a critical need for an alternate route.   

“When things happen, we can really be stranded,” she said.