File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: Provincial foot-dragging on Red Bridge replacement contributing to Kamloops gridlock

Aug 29, 2025 | 12:30 PM

ROAD CONSTRUCTION IS A FACT of summertime life in any Canadian city.

Our seasonal changes are brutal on pavement, which means it needs to be patched and refurbished more frequently than it does in kinder climates.

Potholes aren’t great here in Kamloops, but they’re much worse in cities like Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Not only that, we bury our cables and pipes underneath roads and, when they need to be installed, repaired or replaced, the asphalt comes up and so do the pilons and barriers.

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It has not been a wonderful summer for ripped up roads in Kamloops.

Tranquille Road, Westsyde Road and Columbia Street are among the major arteries that have been affected.

Add to that work on collector and residential streets — and the province maintaining its highways in our area — and you have a recipe for a tasty traffic jam sandwich.

And then there’s the bridge.

When it is fully operational, the Overlanders Bridge carries nearly 50,000 vehicles every day.

Squeeze it down to one lane in each direction and its easy to understand why traffic clogs up through downtown, up the Summit connector, onto the Tranquille strip and several blocks up Fortune Drive during rush hours.

But this year, it’s not just the normal North Shore traffic waiting to traverse the river.

Our beloved Red Bridge may not have been nearly as busy, it may have been way too narrow and way too rough, but it was at least a conduit between Kamloops and the many homes and businesses on the Tk’emlups reserve.

Its destruction by fire last September means even more traffic is being funneled into the Overlanders pinch point.

It took nearly a year for the province to award a design contract for a Red Bridge replacement.

That foot-dragging means it’s not just this year Kamloops commuters will experience major gridlock, but likely a couple more summers to come.

Kamloops used to take pride in how light our traffic was relative to other cities. Well, get used to a few years of Vancouver-like congestion and big city frustration.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.