The city of Kelowna is situated along Okanagan Lake and is the main urban area of the Central Okanagan. The inner city is home to a population of 117, 312 and a greater metropolitan area of 179, 839. Due to the Okanagan’s desert like climate during the summer the population of Kelowna is said to double at this time. People from across Canada flock to the region to enjoy such things as beaches and wineries.

Along with being a major tourist destination, the city also draws visitors from smaller surrounding cities like Peachland, Summerland, Penticton and other communities within the Central and South Okanagan, due to its greater variety of businesses and services.

A result of this fluctuating population is a great deal of traffic leading into and out of the city. The city currently has a single bridge, the WR Bennett Bridge, that crosses Okanagan lake. A result of only having a single bridge is that traffic becomes very backed up during peak times and if “there is an accident, drivers have no alternative” (Bernard). Other sources have also noted that the current bridge is “already too small for the job some days” and “government planners weren’t looking terribly far into the future when they designed and built that bridge” (Bulmer).

As such it has been discussed that the construction of a second bridge would be beneficial. A second bridge would act as a bypass(Bulmer) and the extension of Highway 33 could aid in this effort(Bernard).

This project analyzes the cost of extending the highway to a second bridge location as well as two possible sites of where the bridge could be located. Along with this I also examine the costs of various types of bridges to determine the best solution. One bridge site will be close to the current bridge because the width across the lake is smallest and thus the actual cost of bridge construction will be lower. The other bridge site will be located north of Kelowna’s downtown based on the mention of this in a news article(Bernard).