iN NUMBERS: How much money is wasted every time the Okanagan Lake bridge is closed

The William R. Bennett bridge is arguably the most essential bit of infrastructure in the Central Okanagan, perhaps the entire Okanagan region.

It’s the only way to cross Okanagan Lake for hundreds of kilometres in either direction and every so often — as it did a couple of weeks ago — it closes down for a few hours, wreaking pandemonium on commuters, thru-traffic, airport passengers, hospital and other medical patients and tourists too.

It’s tough to calculate the cost of closing the bridge, but we gave it a shot with a simple formula. How would you calculate lost productivity?

Here are the numbers:

• 59,873: Vehicles cross the William R. Bennett bridge every day.
• 21.80: Dollars per hour is the average wage in Kelowna.
• 4: Hours. That’s roughly how long the bridge was closed for on Sept. 22.
• 218,000: Dollars. That’s a rough, low-end estimate for how much money went down the drain during the closure on Sept. 22 in lost productivity based on traffic volume and average hourly wages.
• 87: Per cent of trips across the William R. Bennett bridge are people staying in the Central Okanagan, between Peachland and Lake Country.
• 80,000: Vehicles a day is the bridge’s maximum capacity.
• 2: Kilometres. That’s the length of the bridge. It sure feels longer when you’re trying to cross around 5 p.m. on a weekday.
• 89: Per cent of vehicles passing over the bridge are under six metres long, like your typical sedans, vans and motorcycles.
• 3: Billion dollars. That’s the estimated cost to build a second bridge across the lake.