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Wildwood Forest parking lot still planned

An amendment to the budget will allow plans for a parking lot at the Wildwood Forest to go ahead.
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An amendment to the budget will allow plans for a parking lot at the Wildwood Forest to go ahead.

The Comox Valley Regional District’s electoral areas services committee gave their blessing June 12 to the revised budget.

A 19-vehicle parking area is proposed under the power lines on Piercy Road for visitors to the Forest. Parking is currently limited to the narrow shoulders of Piercy Road.

There is cleared Crown land adjacent to the entrance, beneath the power lines, that could be developed into a parking lot without cutting trees, pulling stumps or other considerable work.

Only one bid for the work was received during a request for quotes in April, and this bid exceeded the allowance approved in the 2017 budget.

The original budget was for a smaller parking lot, with less gravel depth. The final design has been expanded to accommodate horse trailers.

There were originally tight timelines on the project due to a June 30 deadline on B.C. Hydro’s authorization for works under a power line, and the desire to have the parking lot finished before summer.

B.C. Hydro is reviewing the regional district’s request to extend the authorization until next year.

When the project is put back out to quotes for a second time, staff will give contractors more notice and a longer construction period.

“An estimated $45,000 should be sufficient to cover all costs associated with developing the parking lot to the updated design standard,” said the report from Doug DeMarzo, manager of parks.