What Kelowna’s ‘iconic’ bridge lights could look like

The City of Kelowna is kicking around the idea of spending $1 million to put lights on the William R. Bennett bridge to give the city something iconic and improve safety.

Mayor Tom Dyas said Kelowna needs something iconic to help put it on the map.

“What we saw with the (Canadian Country Music Awards) coming through this community and town and the number of people who came to this community… they’ve been in Canada for a long time and they had no idea that Kelowna even existed,” Dyas said at a council meeting in September.

He said lighting the bridge could make it an icon that people would recognize.

“From an iconic standpoint, if you were to look at the CN Tower or the Space Needle or those particular iconic types of things that bring knowledge,” Dyas said. “When you have an iconic type of thing like that, maybe that just helps elevate and put you on the map a little bit more and brings more tourists and more economic impact to our community.”

Toronto’s CN Tower’s LED lights cost around $2.5 million back in 2007, which is roughly $3.9 million today when you include inflation.

The Space Needle in Seattle was built in 1962, but it got a $20 million facelift in 2000 which included putting on new exterior lights.

The William R. Bennett bridge won’t ever be as iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge, but there are lit bridges around the country that other cities have invested millions of dollars in.

In 2016, the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal had lights installed for $40 million, which includes the cost of running the lights for ten years. The Cartier bridge is 2.7 kilometres long while the William R. Bennett bridge is just 1.1 km.

The 60,000 LED lights on Edmonton’s High Level Bridge cost roughly $3 million and the colours on each light can change.

The Lion’s Gate Bridge in Vancouver had LED lights installed in 2009 ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The Gordie Howe Bridge from Windsor to Detroit is still under construction but it’s going to have 5,000 white LED lights. The bridge’s total budget is $6.4 billion and it’s set to open in the coming weeks.

Kelowna’s million dollar bridge lights project has some enthusiasm from council and it’s in the 10-year capital plan, but it still needs to make it into the 2026 budget in order for people to see some lights over Okanagan Lake any time soon. The city’s budget talks begin in December.

Most councillors and the mayor expressed support for the lights, but councillor Ron Cannan had some reservations.

“I don’t think adding a million dollars for feel-good bridge lighting is a priority given the economic challenge that we’re facing,” Cannan said at a meeting on the city’s 10-year capital plan.

City manager Doug Gilchrist said at the meeting that the bridge lights would help with the city’s other efforts to give the city an icon, including new signs that haven’t been completed yet. The initial budget for a signature sign in the city’s downtown was set at $500,000.

“We have our signature sign and the entry sign, entry monument sign for Kelowna that this council has endorsed all coming to fruition. And we looked at the bridge as an opportunity maybe to further enhance that placemaking opportunity,” Gilchrist said.

The lights are also supposed to help with safety for cyclists, as well as boaters after a crash near the bridge injured several people over the summer.

“Also with the recent safety incident or the marine crash that we saw on the water recently, it may also provide some safety benefit for those that are paddling or boating after dark,” Gilchrist said.

While the bridge light plan is in the discussion phase, ChatGPT rendered an idea of what dynamic lighting on the William R. Bennett Bridge could look like.