Province wants to know where you would put a second bridge across Okanagan Lake

KELOWNA – Here’s a chance to move beyond complaining about local traffic to actually providing constructive suggestions.

The Okanagan Lake Second Crossing project is beginning its next round of public consultation regarding the future of the highway corridor between Peachland and Lake Country.

The provincial government wants you to submit your views on the role of Highway 97, suggestions on reducing congestions and opinions on where a second lake crossing should be located, according to a media release.

Current projections has the population of the Central Okanagn increasing by 36 per cent to 255,000 over the next 20 years, the release says.

According to ministry estimates, the Bennett Bridge will reach capacity by 2040, as configured, while the approaches to the bridge on the Kelowna side will reach capacity before that.

By then, a trip during morning rush hour from Lake Country to Peachland will take almost 15 minutes longer than it does now, while the afternoon rush hour would add 24 minutes to the same trip 25 years from now.

West Kelowna’s open house is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 30 from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Westbank Lions Community Centre, 2466 Main St.

Kelowna’s open house is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 1 from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ramada Kelowna, 2170 Harvey Ave.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.