Popular B.C. highway tourism centre slated for closure

The mayor of Merritt, B.C., is pleading for the province to reconsider its decision to close a popular highway tourist stop in early 2018 that sits at the junction of the CoquihallaHighway and the Okanagan Connector.

Destination B.C. is the Crown corporation that currently operates the centre at exit 286 near Merritt.

The location with rest rooms and snacks is a common pit stop for B.C. drivers going between the Lower Mainland and the B.C. Interiorbutis slated to close in January.

"It certainly wasn't an easy decision for us to make because the centre is a popular one and almost a tradition, really," said Kathleen Harvey, manager of visitor services at Destination B.C.

New rest area on Highway97C

She said a number of factors were considered when making the decision, including declining visitation, aging infrastructure andthe construction of a new provincially-built rest area nearby on Highway 97C.

The new modern rest stop at the Loon Lake interchange, between Merritt and Kelowna, falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and is expected to open before the end of the year.

"That factored into the decision in a big way," said Harvey.

The new rest area will have washrooms and picnic tablesbut will not include tourism information.

She said more people are planning their travel online, and individual communities have greater flexibility to reach tourists through social media, roaming ambassadors and pop-up tents.

"It's a situation where we don't really have a lot of choice," said Merrit's mayor, Neil Menard.

"Downloading again onto the local communities."

City expresses concern

He said the current location serves roughly 10,000 cars a day and is necessary for local tourism.

The mayor also said he was not informed that the province is building a new rest stop location on Highway 97C, though the province issued a news release in 2016.

"That's quite honestly news to me."

"The amount of money they're going to spend on that, they could've spent it on our centre and kept it operating."

The city has expressed concern to the premier and B.C.'s transportation ministerand is urging the province to reconsider its decision.

"It is a very busy place. Yes, it needs some fixing. And I think the government should be doing that."

There are currently no confirmed plans for the building located at the highway interchange, saidHarvey.

The last day of operations will be January 12, 2018.

With files from CBC's Daybreak South.