BC Conservative MLAs Amelia Boultbee, Tara Armstrong, Macklin McCall, Harman Bhangu, Kristina Loewen, and Misty Van Popta (from left to right). MLAs held a press conference at the 2023 rockslide site in Summerland on Jan. 29, 2025.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

BC Conservatives are calling on the provincial government to take action on Highway 97 through the Okanagan, highlighting a need for viable detours.

The opposition party pointed to closures, particularly in the Peachland and Summerland areas, that have left commuters "stranded" or forced them down long "unreliable" detours, according to a news release issued today, Jan. 29.

“Highway 97 is a lifeline for the Okanagan region, carrying over 20,000 vehicles daily. Yet, under (Premier David) Eby’s NDP, it has become a symbol of mismanagement and neglect. Residents, businesses, and emergency services have been left with a broken and unreliable road link as the government delays solutions year after year," the party's transportation critic and MLA for Langley-Abbotsford Harman Banghu said in the release.

The announcement comes in the wake of a bomb threat that forced the hours-long closure of W.R. Bennett Bridge this week, but the news release did not mention the incident. Instead it focused on the August 2023 rockslide that disrupted the highway in the Summerland area for months and other hazards like wildfires.

West Kelowna-Peachland MLA Macklin McCall said residents are "tired of being left behind" by the NDP.

“We are calling on Premier Eby and Transportation Minister Farnworth to allocate funding in the upcoming budget for comprehensive Highway 97 upgrades. The livelihoods and safety of British Columbians are at stake," McCall, who is also the emergency management critic, said in the release.

Drivers have been detoured in the past through a forest service road on the east side of Okanagan Lake due to landslide disruptions, though the route was difficult to pass during the bomb threat closure. 

Though there is no direct mention of a second crossing in today's news release, Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew told iNFOnews.ca another bridge should be considered in a wider Highway 97 plan.

“This is a tragic and complicated situation, but it is also a powerful reminder of why we need a second crossing and a broader transportation corridor strategy for both everyday commuters, goods movement, and emergency response,” he said in an emailed statement.

At a press conference this morning in Summerland, the BC Conservative MLAs talked about a need for action, including highway expansion and looking into a second bridge in Kelowna, but they did not have any specifics.

“It's difficult to say exactly what needs to be done right across the whole section of the highway. However, there's a big issue here. This is unstable. It's been unstable for a long time,” MLA Macklin McCall said at a press conference in front of the rockslide site in Summerland.

The Ministry of Transportation just completed the temporary stabilization of the 2023 rockslide area in November and said it is planning long-term stabilization efforts there starting in the spring.

As far as the second bridge goes, the BC Conservative shadow minister for infrastructure Misty Van Popta said it’s time to take another look at the study done by the Ministry of Transportation.

“The first step would be to un-shelve that previous report. That report has been done, and so let's take it off the shelf and restart looking at it and having those discussions,” Popta said at the press conference.  

The ministry gave the report to Kelowna city council in 2023 and said it would take at least 20 years to build a second bridge. City councillor Loyal Wooldridge had previously said another bridge would cost billions of dollars.

— With files from Jesse Tomas

— This article was updated at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 with a photo and more information from a media conference.

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