William R Bennett Bridge

Image Credit: Submitted/Kevin Hamakawa

BC Conservative leader John Rustad released his party’s infrastructure and transportation plan this week which includes a plan to commit to a second bridge across Okanagan Lake in Kelowna, but a local BC NDP candidate said it isn’t sensible.

“Commit to a new bridge across Okanagan Lake by working with the cities of Kelowna and West Kelowna to identify a preferred route, then adding the project into the provincial capital plan for completion no later than 2032,” Rustad said in a press release.

BC NDP’s Kelowna Centre candidate and Kelowna city councillor Loyal Wooldridge said there's a need to look at ways to improve transportation in the city, but a second bridge wouldn’t be worth the cost.

“Promising this by 2032 is near impossible. By impacting Westbank First Nation lands, reallocations of land would be required with federal government approvals which can take 5-10 years. A rough estimate of a new bridge would cost roughly $3 billion or more not including additional land costs and new road connections,” Wooldridge said in a press release issued, Oct 4.

The possibility of a second bridge was addressed in the Ministry of Transportation’s Central Okanagan Transportation Strategy which was presented to city council on March 13, 2023.

“A second crossing doesn’t solve the problems that you think it would,” council was told by the ministry staff more than a year ago.

READ MORE: No second bridge over Okanagan Lake in Kelowna for at least 20 years: MOT

Less than 5% of traffic goes through the entire region, and 1% of trucks. Most people crossing the W.R. Bennett Bridge are heading to or from Kelowna.

The ministry said improving transit is a better plan for getting people in and out of the city.

Rustad criticized the current BC NDP government for not building enough infrastructure while in power.

“After 7 years of the NDP, aging infrastructure and inadequate public transit are dragging down daily life and our economy,” said Rustad. “While demand for all types of infrastructure continues to grow, the NDP has failed to fix the bottlenecks that exist today, let alone build what’s needed for tomorrow."

Wooldridge said the promise is political rather than an effort to actually improve transportation in and around Kelowna.

“Their promise is fiscally irresponsible, untrustworthy, electioneering. They have no intention to collaborate with First Nations or municipalities and if they were serious about addressing traffic congestion in Kelowna, they’d know approximately 90 per cent of bridge traffic is destined for, or comes from, Kelowna,” Wooldridge said.

The BC Conservatives plan to identify a good route for a second bridge in the city, and Wooldridge said there simply isn’t one.

The second bridge would potentially link up with Gordon Drive or Richter Street between Highway 97 and Knox Mountain.

“The options would create a permanent barrier to Knox Mountain and destroy the livability of the north end and our community’s prized amenities,” Wooldridge said.

Wooldrige said expanding the capacity of the existing W.R. Bennett Bridge, expanding streets parallel to the highway, and improving transit would be cheaper and more effective than a second bridge.

“The City of Kelowna has a plan to address congestion while working with the provincial government to expand capacity of the existing bridge. It involves investing into road systems that create redundancy to the highway, Clement Avenue Extension, $57 million, coupled with regional rapid transit with a new transit yard, $120 million for the facility and $110 million for new buses. The existing bridge has capacity to add another lane by moving the active transportation lanes to make way for a rapid transit lane,” Wooldridge said.

On top of a new bridge in Kelowna, Rustad announced ten other major infrastructure projects for the province.

“We will revitalize our transportation system with long-term investments to improve safety, reduce congestion, and get BC moving,” Rustad said.

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