The options offered by the Ministry of Transportation for a possible second Okanagan Lake crossing are all north of William Bennett Bridge.
The options offered by the Ministry of Transportation for a possible second Okanagan Lake crossing are all north of William Bennett Bridge.
The Central Okanagan Planning Study, which has been looking at ways to improve traffic flow in the area since 2014, is showing all the current ideas it’s developed at three public consultations this week.
There are 4 options for a second bridge. One would connect just south of Knox Mountain near Poplar Point, while the other three cut through the Manhattan Point area, with all 4 eventually connect to Clement Ave. Specific crossing locations will be determined in the next stage of the study and an expansion of the current bridge is still a possibility.
But a second bridge isn’t the only idea on the table. The Ministry has also offered options for an alternate corridor in the area.
In Kelowna, it would include extending Clement Ave. past Spall Rd. up to either Highway 33, McCurdy Rd. or UBCO. The Ministry is calling it the Central Okanagan Multi-Modal Corridor.
In West Kelowna, the option for a second corridor is north of Shannon Lake Road, with varying options on where it would begin and end. One is through Rose Valley Regional Park, near Westside Rd, where it can connect to the potential second Okanagan Lake crossing.
Options to change Highway 97 itself are also being shown to the public.
Ideas include grade-separated interchanges, or building median or elevated express lanes. In West Kelowna, one option even suggests turning Highway 97 near the Town Centre into a trenched road with overhead crossings that don’t interfere with the highway.
While the possibility of a second crossing has been much talked about over the years, Murray Tekano with the Ministry of Transportation says all options need to be explored.
“To look at something like a second crossing you have to understand what will the transportation system be like, and so it’s all tied together,” he says “the options we’re looking at for on the highway has an influence over side roads, which can indeed also affect whether or not a second crossing will be helpful and also where it should be”
A future conditions assessment has found that by 2040, the Bennett Bridge will reach capacity in its current form and that a trip between Peachland and Lake Country will take 15 mins longer in the morning peak hour and 24 mins longer in the afternoon peak hour.
Tekano says they will eliminate options using public feedback from this week and come back to the public again before making final recommendations within the next year.
[Images from the Ministry of Transportation]
