A proposed new bridge would create a third route for vehicles to cross the coulees in Lethbridge. (File photo of Whoop-Up Drive/Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

City of Lethbridge seeks funding to plan for proposed third bridge

Feb 23, 2023 | 2:09 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge will reach out to the provincial and federal governments as it continues planning work on a proposed third bridge across the coulees.

At the regular meeting of city council on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, members voted 5-3 in favour of writing to the other levels of government to request funding for a functional planning study and preliminary design.

The motion was put forward by Mayor Blaine Hyggen, who says a potential third bridge will likely place a significant financial burden on local taxpayers without outside support.

By seeking funding for the planning stage, he says it would help to keep the project’s overall costs down.

Preliminary design work for the project was approved in the city’s 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program with a budget of $4 million. City of Lethbridge Director of Infrastructure Services Joel Sanchez says, given that costs have increased over the last few years, the actual price tag now might be 30-40 per cent higher.

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Councillors Jeff Carlson and John Middleton-Hope voted against the motion to request funding because it did not specify how much money council would be asking for. Hyggen explained that if the other governments showed interest in funding the planning work, it would make sense to then figure out what the overall funding request would be.

Councillor Belinda Crowson also voted no, saying she believes there are more pressing matters that the city should be turning to the province and Ottawa for, and that you can only go to the well so many times before it dries up.

Councillor Rajko Dodic, on the other hand, was in favour of the motion. He says it is good to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later when it comes to seeking funding from other parties.

The proposed Chinook Trail bridge would connect University Drive West with Scenic Drive South, with an estimated construction cost of $188 million, according to a City of Lethbridge report from October 2022.

Prior cost estimates from January 2022 pegged the project at anywhere from $200 million to $300 million. Based on those prices, the construction of a third bridge would result in property tax increases of anywhere from 14.5 per cent to 22.1 per cent over a four-year period.

READ MORE: Third bridge would result in 14-22% tax increase in Lethbridge

As part of the 2021 municipal election, 60.4 per cent of voters said yes to a referendum question that stated, “Do you agree that city council should approve plans to construct a third bridge prior to 2030 as a municipal capital project priority?”

The City of Lethbridge plans to conduct work on the functional planning study and preliminary design in 2027. If the full project is approved, construction could begin as early as 2030.

READ MORE: Lethbridge City Council debates feasibility of third bridge