Any plans for a second bridge over Okanagan Lake seem to be 'completely dead'

You can hear the frustration in Dan Rogers' voice.

The CEO of the 1,000-member Kelowna Chamber of Commerce is talking about the long-touted second bridge across Okanagan Lake linking West Kelowna and Kelowna.

"Everyone has always assumed there would be a second crossing," said Rogers.

"But, it appears now that the provincial government has abandoned the concept of a second bridge. It's like it's completely dead. Any plans there were have been shelved. There's no plan and no investment for a second crossing for Kelowna."

Rogers notes that the chamber is non-partisan and works with whatever provincial political party is in power.

However, he stopped short of saying the ruling NDP is snubbing the Central Okanagan because there are no NDP MLAs here.

Ben Stewart, the BC United (formerly BC Liberal) MLA for Westside-Kelowna, doesn't stop short.

"The NDP isn't planning or spending anything in Kelowna because we aren't NDP ridings," said Stewart.

"It's short-sighted of the NDP to cancel a second crossing."

A change in government after the next provincial election in October 2024 could kick-start planning for a second bridge or it might maintain the no-second-bridge status quo.

Both Stewart and the Kelowna chamber have been trying to get direct answers from the NDP provincial Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming.

But, nothing definite yet.

Instead, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is intent on trying to solve the bottleneck that is the current bridge with a three-pronged approach that does not include building a second bridge.

The ministry's Central Okanagan Integrated Transportation Strategy wants to see public transit improved so fewer people are in their cars plugging up Highway 97 and the existing bridge.

The ministry also plans improved traffic flow on busy Highway 97 with traffic light, intersection and exchange updates.

The idea of widening the existing bridge is also being floated.

The existing William R. Bennett Bridge is five lanes -- three westbound from Kelowna to West Kelowna and two eastbound from West Kelowna to Kelowna.

To make it six lanes -- three each way -- means the existing pedestrian sidewalk and bike lane on the eastbound corridor would become a traffic lane and a new walkway and cycling access would have to be built onto the bridge in some sort of cantilevered fashion.

To accommodate the new, heavier flow of eastbound traffic, the eastbound Highway 97 lanes in Kelowna at Abbott Street would be widened from two lanes to three.

"The widening of the existing bridge is unrealistic as a solution," said Stewart.

"What we need is a second crossing as a Highway 97 bypass."

Rogers agrees.

The bridge has always been a major transportation issue in Kelowna.

Up until 1958 there was no bridge and people, cars and goods had to be brought across the 1.3 kilometre distance by ferry.

In 1958, a three-lane floating bridge, the first and only of its kinds in Canada, was finished and went into operation.

That bridge was replaced in 2008 by the current five-lane bridge.

As soon as the crossing was finished in 2008 there were predictions it would hit capacity in 2040 and that planning should start right away for a second bridge.

The second crossing always seemed to be envisioned as a Highway 97 and Kelowna bypass to take pressure off the busy highway and expedite traffic that wasn't stopping in Kelowna and is heading to Kelowna airport, Lake Country, Vernon and beyond.

That crossing and route would have been north of the existing bridge to connect to a Clement Avenue with very few lights and turns to slow traffic.

The City of Kelowna, according to Rogers, seems to have taken its cue from the province and has stopped planning for a second bridge and making Clement Avenue a bypass.

In fact, the city's North End Plan has already allowed, and will allow more, apartment and commercial development along Clement, which is not in keeping with it becoming a bypass.

That means the only option now for a second crossing, according to both Rogers and Stewart, seems to be south of the existing bridge.

The lake is wider there, a new bypass route would have to be figured out and the ultimate price tag would soar.

Stewart noted that the current bridge cost $140 million to complete in 2008, yet a second crossing would likely cost $1 billion.

A total of 235,000 people live right now in the Central Okanagan with the population forecast to grow by 60,000 more by 2040.

In addition, the population and traffic balloons in the summer as tourists and visiting friends and relatives descend on the area.

Thus, 2040 is when the existing bridge is predicted to hit capacity.

"Without planning for, funding and building a second crossing by 2040 is a crisis in the making," said Rogers.

"The bottom line is you have to get people and goods from one side to the other and the provincial government isn't doing any of that long-term planning. Its thinking seems to be that it will deal with the crisis when it happens."

Stewart is all for improving public transit and maximizing Highway 97 flow in any way possible.

"But, they aren't the long-range solution," he said.

"We need to plan for a second bridge, knowing it will be expensive."