{"id":121538,"date":"2024-10-04T21:56:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T21:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/"},"modified":"2024-10-04T21:56:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T21:56:00","slug":"okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/","title":{"rendered":"Okanagan candidates question Conservatives promise of 2nd lake crossing"},"content":{"rendered":"

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says it’s time for a serious plan to build a second crossing over Okanagan Lake.<\/p>\n

During an announcement Friday (Oct. 4) about his party’s childcare plan he was asked how a Conservative government could plan, build and pay for a second bridge connecting Kelowna and West Kelowna by 2032 as promised. <\/p>\n

“The existing crossing is expected to max out capacity by 2040,” he said. “I suspect with the growth that we’re seeing here it could actually reach that even earlier.”<\/p>\n

A June 23, 2023, Kelowna Chamber letter to Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure<\/a> (MOTI) Rob Flemming stated that the Central Okanagan is expected to grow by 60,000 residents by 2040. A 2019 staff report to Kelowna council <\/a>on a second bridge and a freeway bypass indicated the project would cost well in excess of $1 billion at the time.<\/p>\n

In March 2023, MOTI unveiled its Central Okanagan Integrated Transportation Study<\/a>, a 20-year vision for transportation needs in the Okanagan Valley. It did not include a second crossing but did recommend a sixth lane on the existing bridge dedicated to transit. <\/p>\n

The City of Kelowna plans to address traffic congestion including redundancy to Highway 97 with the Clement Avenue extension and a new transit yard to expand the regional transit fleet.<\/p>\n

Rustad added a plan to build a second crossing needs to engage with First Nations, communities and residents.<\/p>\n

“That needs to be developed, and as soon as we get that developed then we will allocate funding to get it built.” <\/p>\n

Kelowna-Centre NDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge said while improvements are needed along the Highway 97 corridor, the Conservatives are promising something without thorough analysis.<\/p>\n

“Their promise is fiscally irresponsible, untrustworthy, electioneering,” Wooldridge said in an emailed statement. “They have no intention to collaborate with First Nations or municipalities”<\/p>\n

He said promising a new crossing by 2032 is nearly impossible.<\/p>\n

“By impacting WFN lands, reallocation 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-plus, not including additional land costs and new road connections.” <\/p>\n

In an Instagram post, West Kelowna-Peachland Independent candidate Stephen Johnston said the Conservatives’ promise is questionable and overlooks long-standing challenges his riding has faced for decades.<\/p>\n

“Unless they intend to address these significant infrastructure deficits, this is nothing more than cheap talk.”<\/p>\n

As an example, Johnston posted that Westside Road, where a second crossing would be established, is “one of the most dangerous roads in Canada, and certainly in B.C.”<\/p>\n

“Immediate upgrades are essential to improve safety and prevent accidents on this critical route.”<\/p>\n

Unless the Conservatives are promising to build everything at once Johnston added, pushing ahead with a second crossing while neglecting these urgent needs would be reckless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Promising a new crossing by 2032 is nearly impossible’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":121545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,7,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election","category-news","category-regional-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOkanagan candidates question Conservatives promise of 2nd lake crossing - The Interior News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Okanagan candidates question Conservatives promise of 2nd lake crossing - The Interior News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"'Promising a new crossing by 2032 is nearly impossible'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Interior News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-04T21:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff reports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff reports\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/\",\"name\":\"Okanagan candidates question Conservatives promise of 2nd lake crossing - The Interior News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/web1_20220223-bpd-kelowna-bridge-feb9-mclachlan.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-04T21:56:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2a2559930289000cbfc74c234c9073b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2024\/10\/04\/okanagan-candidates-question-conservatives-promise-of-2nd-lake-crossing\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/web1_20220223-bpd-kelowna-bridge-feb9-mclachlan.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2024\/10\/web1_20220223-bpd-kelowna-bridge-feb9-mclachlan.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"William R. 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