Dictionaries tend to favor the spatial definition of לקראת:  The Dvir dictionary says “to meet, towards,” and it mentions that the root is קרא (as in “Hey, you!”).  Sivan and Levenston’s Bantam dictionary also says “towards” but it adds the meanings “for” and “in view of,” taking into account that as the time of an occurrence approaches, it influences our behavior.  We might say we bought a new electric heater לקראת החורף  and mean that we bought it because winter was impending.  On the other hand, we might also say that לקראת החורף we bought a new electric toothbrush.