Delays to the replacement of the Red Bridge? Kamloops North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer says they are, “Totally Unacceptable.”

I think it’s totally unacceptable that on one hand the Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MoTT) is saying they’re going to be responsible for putting together multiple replacement options with public engagement, and then in the same breath they're saying, ‘Oh, and by the way, we're going to start our geotechnical environmental and archaeological site assessments on both sides of the river, possibly beginning this summer.’

According to Stamer, that should already have been done.

“Obviously, we're pretty sure it will be in the same location because there's really no other place to put it. So, if you're going to put in a bridge, you think that at least you'd be doing the archaeological assessments first off”, stated Stamer. 

“If it's determined it has to be a free-span bridge, and it can't have anything or very minimal impact in the riverbed, they should already be determining that. It would help in the design, wouldn't it?”

Stamer indicated two years have been wasted, and went on to say, “I had conversations with engineers two weeks after the bridge was destroyed and asked, ‘How long do you think it would take to build that bridge?’ They said, oh, minimum of five years.”

I said, "Do you mean to tell me there's not another bridge anywhere in the world that you couldn't just put in there?" And the response was, ‘Oh, there probably is. But, you know, they gave us a bunch of reason why they wouldn't.’

“At this rate, it's going to be 10 years. Like seriously, no one at the Ministry of Transportation and Transit really wants to pick up the ball and do anything to move this thing forward.”

Regarding any studies, Stamer had this to say; “It should already be done, or at least the archaeological section of it should have been done to see what the negative impacts would be in replacing that bridge, and what's there and what's not there.”

According to Stamer the Ministry of Transportation and Transit should already be trying to determine what would be suitable for a new span.

“Is it going to be multi-support, single-support, free support, have nothing in the river at all? We should already be halfway along that process and looking at what exactly is needed and when the tendering process would start.

I understand that MoTT is currently doing a traffic impact study, and my question is; ‘When will that be completed. The way they're dragging their feet on this it’s going to be like the Massey Tunnel -- it'll be 25 years.”

Stamer continued, “I think money is tight. And yeah, I think that with all the different levels of input that is now required, in any of these projects, that not only does it take an incredible amount of time, but it takes an incredible amount of money to get through the processes.”

“That's fine. But you should be able to be designing the bridge, but here’s the reality. This government hasn't made it a priority and it's up to all of all of us; First Nations, Kamloops City Council, along with provincial representatives like Peter and myself – to push as hard as we can.”

“People want to see the Red Bridge rebuilt, sooner than this government appears to want to see it done, and Peter and I will continue to advocate on behalf of the people in Kamloops to see that happen”, Stamer concluded.