Lethbridge needs a third bridge – it’s time to stop dreaming

By Lethbridge Herald on February 22, 2023.

Editor:

I feel with the next provincial election, we are facing the perfect storm. There’s usually a lot of election promises.

The question is what promises will the different parties make to sway the votes in Lethbridge? 

We currently have Nathan Neudorf, who is serving as the Deputy Premier and the Minister of infrastructure. You would think with these two roles that he would have the ability to find some cash to help build the third bridge. Plus money to help build the Chinook Trail that is going to feed traffic to the third bridge. 

There’s no use having a bridge without a main roads going to it. Does he realize that over 60 per cent of Lethbridge voted for that third bridge? Whatever party promises to build the third bridge they would be smart, to make it as a tourist attraction, much like the Brooklyn bridge in New York or the Golden Gate Bridge in California.

Why not make a twin High Level Bridge that automobiles could use on one level and pedestrian/bikers on the other? We could call it the Blackfoot Bridge to honour the people who live on this land. This third bridge and ring road would provide a faster and more efficient access to the Lethbridge Airport, too. Truckers would prefer to use it because it would be level compared to climbing the big westside hill. 

The ring road would provide better access to the leisure centre/crossings from Highway 3 which would probably attract more businesses or even a hotel or two. All the different communities on the westside would benefit to having expressway to Highway 3 and going west or to the south side of Lethbridge. 

With all these benefits, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this would be a very positive thing for Lethbridge. Stop stalling and build it. Just think if we would have built it in the 1980s or 1990s how much cheaper it would hav been. It probably would have been paid for by now. 

Don’t say we need to do more planning, the City of Lethbridge has been planning this for over 40 years. This project should be shovel-ready – if not we have wasted a lot of taxpayers money. Let’s stop dreaming and get to work building this infrastructure in Lethbridge. 

Crystal Tsritter

Lethbridge