No painless path for 2nd crossing
Each of 4 possible routes for new bridge comes with major impact on businesses, homes in city’s north end
A future second bridge across Okanagan Lake would enter Kelowna at one of four locations in the downtown north end.
Three of the alignments would follow the abandoned railway corridor, but the fourth would veer farther north and skirt the base of Knox Mountain.
All four would connect with Clement Avenue just east of Gordon Drive, according to possible routing plans unveiled Monday by the Ministry of Transportation.
Each of the possible connections would significantly impact residential and business areas in the downtown north end, and would require the acquisition of many privately-owned properties, transportation planners acknowledge.
But they say a second bridge linked to this area of Kelowna makes the most practical sense, and they have dismissed any suggestions the new link should be built farther south or north.
“It’s helpful for people to understand that we haven’t just chosen this area because it’s convenient,” Murray Tekano, a senior ministry manager, said Monday.
“We’ve looked at a number of different alignments, but recognizing what we’re trying to do for traffic, connections in this area are really the ones that will provide that improvement,” Tekano said.
Two of the four possible routes would impact portions of the Tolko sawmill and cut through the Manhattan Point neighbourhood.
A third would involve an extension of Manhattan Drive just north of Rotary Marshes, and the fourth would cut through an old provincial campground at the base of Knox Mountain.
On the west side of the bridge, the possible connection points for a future second crossing cover a much wider area. Possible landings are from south of Old Ferry Wharf Road to north of Bear Creek Provincial Park, a distance of six kilometres.
The ministry held the first of three open houses on the latest phase of research associated with the second crossing project Monday in Lake Country.
A second meeting will be held from 3:30 to 7 p.m. today at the Ramada hotel in Kelowna, and the third is Thursday at the Westbank Lions Hall in West Kelowna, also from 3:30 to 7 p.m.
By 2040, the ministry says, the five-lane William R. Bennett Bridge will reach capacity in its current configuration.
If a second bridge and significant highway upgrades are not built, driving between Peachland and Lake Country in 2040 would take almost a half-hour longer than it does today, the ministry says.
It’s possible the existing bridge could be widened, the new study says, though little detail is provided on that option.
As well as identifying likely connection points for a second bridge, the new study identifies a range of possible projects designed to improve traffic flow in the Central Okanagan. These include:
— a bypass around West Kelowna that would extend about 30 km, compared to the current 19km alignment of Highway 97;
— in Kelowna, possible interchanges at Highway 97-Gordon Drive, and interchanges where the highway intersects with Dilworth Drive, Highway 33, McCurdy Road, Sexsmith Road, John Hindle Drive and Airport Way;
— in Lake Country, possible interchanges where Highway 97 intersects Commonwealth Road, Janet Road, Okanagan Centre East Road and Oceola Road.
The next round of ministry-hosted open houses, to present more refined information on preferred transportation solutions, will be held in late fall or early winter.