The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce is urging the province to build what it says is a much-needed second bridge across Okanagan Lake.
On Thursday, the chamber issued a public letter to B.C.’s minister of transportation, Rob Fleming.
The letter comes one month after a West Kelowna city council meeting, where local officials were told that a second crossing or bypasses weren’t being recommended.
Council was told most people want to visit downtown Kelowna, so building a costly second bypass bridge would do little to alleviate traffic along the already busy William R. Bennett Bridge.
Council members were also told the province is moving away from a long-term vision of a ‘high-speed freeway’ that would cut through communities due to costs and potential negative impacts.
In its letter, the chamber bluntly said, “Aside from highway maintenance, it appears we are all but being ignored when it comes to major provincial investment in transportation infrastructure.”
It also said Kelowna was one of the fastest-growing census metropolitan areas in Canada, and that one of the chamber’s goals is the improvement of major transportation infrastructure in the region.
The chamber said it added a transportation policy in 2022, one meant to “draw attention to the glaring lack of investment in both planning and tangible investments in transportation infrastructure to serve this fast-growing region of the province.”
The chamber says its recommendations include “identifying and implementing strategic regional investments in the transportation network including, but not limited to, accelerating the planning of a second crossing of Okanagan Lake.”
The letter said investing in major improvements would not only fuel the economy by allowing heavy truck traffic to flow more efficiently along the corridor, but would also mitigate crashes along Highway 97/Harvey Avenue.
The letter also said, “previous ministry planning efforts did focus on the need for overpasses instead of controlled intersections and of course the much sought after and publicly talked about – second crossing – but all that appears to be in the distant past.”
Further, the chamber said the region, with its current population of 235,000, will experience continued growth.
“Our region is expected to add a combined 60,000 people by 2040, yet no major infrastructure projects are on the books,” said the chamber.
“Please let us know if this is incorrect and a second crossing, reducing the number of controlled intersections, plus the consideration of bypass routes are still to be considered prior to 2040.”