{"id":7698,"date":"2026-10-05T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/?p=7946645"},"modified":"2026-10-05T18:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T01:00:16","slug":"in-numbers-how-much-money-is-wasted-every-time-the-okanagan-lake-bridge-is-closed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7698\/in-numbers-how-much-money-is-wasted-every-time-the-okanagan-lake-bridge-is-closed\/","title":{"rendered":"iN NUMBERS: How much money is wasted every time the Okanagan Lake bridge is closed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The William R. Bennett bridge is arguably the most essential bit of infrastructure in the Central Okanagan, perhaps the entire Okanagan region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s the only way to cross Okanagan Lake for hundreds of kilometres in either direction and every so often \u2014 as it did a couple of weeks ago \u2014 it closes down for a few hours, wreaking pandemonium on commuters, thru-traffic, airport passengers, hospital and other medical patients and tourists too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the numbers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>59,873: <\/strong>Vehicles cross the William R. Bennett bridge every day.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>21.80: <\/strong>Dollars per hour is the average wage in Kelowna.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>4:<\/strong> Hours. That\u2019s roughly how long the bridge was <a href=\"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7560\/update-bennett-bridge-in-kelowna-remains-closed-to-southbound-traffic\/\">closed for on Sept. 22.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>218,000:<\/strong> Dollars. That\u2019s 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>87:<\/strong> Per cent of trips across the William R. Bennett bridge are people staying in the Central Okanagan, between Peachland and Lake Country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>80,000:<\/strong> Vehicles a day is the bridge\u2019s maximum capacity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2: <\/strong>Kilometres. That\u2019s the length of the bridge. It sure feels longer when you\u2019re trying to cross around 5 p.m. on a weekday.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>89: <\/strong>Per cent of vehicles passing over the bridge are under six metres long, like your typical sedans, vans and motorcycles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>3:<\/strong> Billion dollars. That\u2019s the estimated cost to build a <a href=\"https:\/\/infotel.ca\/newsitem\/bc-ndp-candidate-calls-bc-conservative-promise-for-second-okanagan-lake-bridge-irresponsible\/it106724\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second bridge across the lake.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How often do you skip an event or an outing just so you don&#8217;t have to cross the bridge?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":547,"featured_media":7699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"","source":"","byline":"","published":"","updated":"","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1285,492,493],"tags":[],"region":[206,207,208,209],"class_list":["post-7698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-local","category-topnews","region-kamloops","region-kelowna","region-penticton","region-vernon"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7698\/in-numbers-how-much-money-is-wasted-every-time-the-okanagan-lake-bridge-is-closed\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"iN NUMBERS: How much money is wasted every time the Okanagan Lake bridge is closed","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7698\/in-numbers-how-much-money-is-wasted-every-time-the-okanagan-lake-bridge-is-closed\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7698\/in-numbers-how-much-money-is-wasted-every-time-the-okanagan-lake-bridge-is-closed\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-hd-mediaitemid77554-7971.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-hd-mediaitemid77554-7971.jpg"},"articleSection":"Featured","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jesse Tomas"}],"creator":["Jesse Tomas"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-10-06T01:00:00Z","datePublished":"2026-10-06T01:00:00Z","dateModified":"2026-10-06T01:00:16Z"},"rendered":"<script 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