Inflation escalating original estimates for third bridge

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on October 12, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

A third bridge crossing the Oldman River from city’s westside may be sometime between 2030 and 2040, states a report presented to Lethbridge city council on Tuesday.

The report says the timeline is tentative and will be updated by the City’s Transportation Master Plan which will provide recommendations about the timing of construction.

The report, presented by transportation engineer Adam St. Amant, says the original Chinook Trail option remains better than one for Popson Park.

The Chinook Trail option, says the report, “continues to provide logical active transportation options in addition to a motor vehicle crossing.”

It adds the Chinook Trail alignment “provides an improved connection between residential areas in southwest Lethbridge and commercial areas in southeast Lethbridge.”

This option is the least costly of those requiring a bridge, says the report, adding there are minimal risks with the Chinook Trail consideration because numerous plans have already been created and implemented considering that alignment.

A Popson Park location would present challenges including potential opposition from stakeholders in the observatory which requires dark skies. Routes except for Chinook Trail could also have the bridge being built in Lethbridge County which would have annexation implications.

The report also says Popson has a number of fossils and exposed stratigraphy along the river banks that make it more possible that archeological resources would be discovered during a construction project.

Poison Park – and other alignments – also cross multiple privately-owned lands, says the report.

Modelling done on crossing volumes shows for the year 2019 there were 79,457 two-way river crossings over Whoop-Up Drive and Highway 3 bridges daily.

By 2069, those totals are estimated to be at 178,545 daily. A Chinook Trail bridge would add 45,472 daily crossings, which combined with a new Highway 3 bypass, would result in a total of 188,586 daily crossings.

The total cost in 2008 of a third bridge was estimated at $141,941,000 for the Chinook Trail alignment and $209,860,000 for Popson Park.

With 32.5 per cent inflation since 2008, the cost now for the Chinook Trail crossing would be $188,080,000 while the Popson Park crossing would be $278,070,000, says the report.

The report says there is no strong evidence Chinook Trail should be abandoned as the preferred option, adding the savings of about $90 million would provide better value.

The report also states that as development continues west of the Oldman River, traffic volumes will continue to increase. It says the best date for opening a new bridge would be between 2030 and 2040.

Council voted unanimously to accept the report as information.

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