A wider Bennett Bridge, no second crossing, proposed in provincial transportation strategy

Photo: BC Gov

Bennett Bridge

The provincial government has no plans to build a second crossing over Okanagan Lake over the next two decades and will instead aim to improve the capacity of the existing Bennett Bridge.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure on Thursday released its 20-year strategy for the Central Okanagan, a mammoth 333-page document that lays the groundwork for how residents will get around through to 2040.

In addition to improving capacity of the Bennett Bridge, the strategy recommends Highway 97 intersection improvements in Peachland, removal of the downtown Westbank highway couplet, completion of the Boucherie Road and Westlake Road interchanges, the extensions of Clement Avenue in Kelowna and improvements to the Commonwealth Road and Glenmore\Beaver Lake corridor in Lake Country.

"This exciting vision for the future of transportation in the Central Okanagan is the result of extensive collaboration with local governments and First Nations," said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

"It provides a clear path forward for the Province and communities to work together to make good land-use decisions, improve roads, enhance public transit, promote active transportation and support a healthier environment."

The report recommends adding a sixth lane to the Bennett Bridge and increasing passenger-per-vehicle density of traffic through the use of either HOV or bus-only lanes (during peak hours) in an attempt to quadruple transit use over the lake. Two lanes would remain for general use in both directions.

Adding a sixth lane to the bridge would require the pedestrian walkway to be cantilevered off the side of the structure, something engineers say is feasible.

Photo: BC Gov

Proposed sixth lane on Bennett Bridge.

“A second crossing is not recommended for further consideration to the 2040 horizon as it has no overall network benefit, results in increases in network vehicle kilometres travelled – and related GHG emissions, and provides only modest, localized relief to the W.R. Bennett Bridge,” says the strategy.

“Vehicle and person capacity improvements along the existing structure… will help improve cross-lake people carrying capacity and improve performance, without requiring the construction of a new structure and associated approaches.”

The strategy is not recommending the bridge utilize a counterflow lane system due to “significant challenges and costs.”

The first significant projects with the strategy to break ground will likely be new interchanges at Boucherie and Westlake roads in West Kelowna.

Designs are being created and will be undergoing permitting and funding in the “short term.”

Both interchanges will eliminate signalled intersections with the use of under and overpasses. The report says the interchanges increase “mobility and safety on Highway 97, and thus supports connectivity and economy through the region.”

Photo: BC Gov

In downtown Westbank, the strategy recommends turning Dobbin Road into a four-lane highway and moving Main Street to two-way local traffic. These plans are still conceptual, but align with West Kelowna’s goal of turning Brown Road into a high-street for the community.

In Peachland, the report suggests a number of intersection upgrades rather than a four-laning of the highway. The report found that four-laning the highway did not provide “significant mobility benefits to the 2040 planning horizon.”

In the northern part of Kelowna and in Lake Country, a number of new highway interchanges remain in the conceptual planning and feasibility study stages.

The planned extension of Clement Avenue to Highway 33 is also highlighted in the strategy, which recommends the province support the City of Kelowna “to advance this project for further design.”

“Consider working with BC Transit and the City of Kelowna to integrate transit priority measures on Highway 97 through Central Kelowna in conjunction with this project,” the report says.

A number of transit improvements are also proposed, including adding transit-only lanes to Highway 97 where the median currently exists.

While all of the projects contained in the strategy are at various stages of planning, none of them have funding attached to them. The strategy also does not attach cost estimates to any of the projects.

The full report can be viewed here.