Second bridge in Central Okanagan not a solution to traffic congestion, says ministry

"A second crossing is something that people have felt very passionate about," said Steve Sirett, district manager with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. 

The W.R. Bennett Bridge is the only direct connection between Kelowna and West Kelowna, but it gets heavily congested at times.

And even though it’s been long talked about, a second crossing isn’t coming anytime soon.

“A second crossing is something that people have felt very passionate about,” said Steve Sirett, district manager with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

“But the amount of effort and planning that we have done over the last 20 years has told us that a second crossing is not the solution to solve the congestion issues.”

In unveiling its 20-year transportation plan for the Central Okanagan, the Ministry of Transportation revealed that a second crossing would have no overall network benefit and would only increase the number of vehicles on the roads.

“When you built the second crossing, it creates something called induced demand, so it creates more trips that people otherwise wouldn’t have taken which, you know, goes against our sort of goals of sustainable transportation choices and moving people more efficiently than rather than moving more cars,” Sirett said.

But in West Kelowna, where residents are particularly hard-hit with the bridge congestion, the idea of not including a  second crossing in the long-term plans is being met with disappointment.

“It would be great, everyone wants one,” said West Kelowna resident Darren Matity.