Business, government leaders urge B.C. to build 2nd bridge across Okanagan Lake

Business and government leaders in B.C.'s Central Okanagan region are urging the province to seriously consider building a second crossing over Okanagan Lake amid a rapidly growing population.

"Our region is expected to add a combined 60,000 people by 2040,yet no major infrastructure projects are on the books," said Dan Price, chair of theKelowna Chamber of Commerce,in an open letter to B.C. Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming last month.

The organization is advocating for a newbridge to connect Kelowna with West Kelowna across the Okanagan Lake. Currently there is only theW. R. Bennett Bridge, which opened in 2008.

The population in the area has grown rapidly over the past few years, with a14-per-cent increase in theregion that includes Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Countryand Peachland making it the fastest-growing metropolitan area in Canadaaccording to 2021 census data.

The call for a second cross-lake bridge was first proposed in 2014 by former B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark,also the MLA for the former Westside-Kelowna riding.

Clark said she would commit $2 million for the planning of the project, a promise she made during her campaign for re-election in 2014.

A July 2017 report commissioned by the then-B.C. Liberal government showed the province's considerations for improving transportation infrastructure in the Central Okanagan region, including building another bridgenorth of the Bennett Bridge, andconstructing alternate motorways on the north ends of Kelowna and West Kelowna.

The report also estimated that the Bennett Bridge would not be able to accommodate moreusers by 2040.

After theNDP government came to power in 2017, the provincecontinued to study ways to addressgrowing traffic in the area, but it has rarely discussed plans for thesecond bridgesince.

In October 2019, Kelowna city council ruled out the option, citing concerns that construction costs, which could exceed $1 billion, were too high for the municipality even with provincial funding.

Dan Rogers, CEO of the KelownaChamber of Commerce, is urging politicians at all levels of government to consider the long-term benefits of a second crossing to ease traffic congestion and enhance transportation in the Central Okanagan.

"If you're not doing a second crossing, what are your plans to improve Highway 97 [in] your lifetime and my lifetime while we're in the [Central]Okanagan [where] the motorists get stuck in traffic?" Rogers said on CBC's Daybreak South.

'It can be done': former mayor

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the transportation ministry said the Bennett Bridge will have sufficient capacity through 2040 based on a 2019 review, but the need for a second bridge is still being evaluated andresults will be shared soon.

However, Aaron Thibeault, a senior planner with the City of Kelowna, said on Daybreak SouthWednesday that the ministry had toldthe city the second bridge is currently "off the table."

The city also wrote to CBC News saying itwill focus on expanding the capacity of intersections along Highway 97 in Kelowna and West Kelowna, with help from the province.

Doug Findlater, who served as the mayor of West Kelowna during the inception of the second bridgein 2014, says residents in his city are still eager to see the project's construction, as seenina recent public hearing on thecity's officialcommunity plan.

"[They] are quite dismayed when there's a realization that no planning is being done at this time," Findlater said on Daybreak South.

"It can be done all there needs to be is the will to do it."

During a visit to Kelowna last June, Kevin Falcon, leader of B.C.United formerly known as the B.C. Liberal Party also voiced support for a second cross-lake bridge, sayingthe growing population in the region necessitates theinfrastructure upgrade.

Clark agreed, telling CBC News thata second crossing, along with other transportation improvements, would help address issues of climate change.

"Having cars sitting in the traffic belching exhaust is terrible for our climate," Clark said in an interview on Monday.

"Even though [the bridge] will allow more traffic to move through, it will allow that traffic to move through in a more efficient way."