(Image Credit: CFJC Today File)

By Victor Kaisar

Infrastructure Funding

Kamloops MLA, councillors unhappy with speed of Red Bridge replacement, other infrastructure funding

Jan 20, 2026 | 6:02 AM

KAMLOOPS — Work to replace the Red Bridge in Kamloops is still ongoing, but a Kamloops MLA says residents shouldn’t expect a new structure over the South Thompson River to be built anytime soon.

At the Jan. 13 council meeting, Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer said lobbying efforts will continue as he noted it could be as many as five-to-seven years before the former wooden truss bridge is replaced.

“I think we can all agree in this room that if we had an opportunity to wave our wands, we should be able to replace that bridge in a timely fashion — two-or-three years. But realistically, it’s probably going to be five-to-seven years,” Stamer said.

“That is putting additional stress on all corridors, similar to what happened on the Overlanders (Bridge) repairs in the summertime.”

Stamer made that comment following a question on infrastructure funding from Councillor Mike O’Reilly.

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“When grants or new programs are usually announced throughout the Lower Mainland by default, we are paying more as a taxpayer up here, but we’re not getting the help,” O’Reilly said. “TransLink is a prime example as they’ve been struggling and they’re getting bailouts and we don’t have that.

“Looking at the Trans-Canada Highway though the Valleyview corridor and the interchange with Highway 5, we have the Asia Gateway Pacific Corridor that has investment starting from Valleyview working east and nothing in between… When there’s flyovers being put in in Tappen and new paving in Salmon Arm and we’re seeing nothing in infrastructure in our highways that run through Kamloops.”

In June last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit awarded a contract to Urban Systems to help conduct planning and design work on a replacement bridge. A conceptual design of the “preferred options” is expected to be released this spring.

A more specific timeline has not yet been made public.

“We’re going to continue to press as hard as we can for as much as we can get in this region,” Stamer added. “Regardless of what’s going on in the Lower Mainland, the buck stops here and we should be trying to do everything we possibly can for the people of Kamloops and the surrounding area.”

Kamloops RCMP say the investigation into the fire that destroyed the 88-year-old bridge in September 2024 is still progressing, but they have released few details.

“The Red Bridge is still an active investigation, and we continue to advance that accordingly with several investigative units,” Kamloops RCMP Supt. Jeff Pelley said at a year-end media availability this month.

Police previously said they suspect arson as the cause of the fire, and they’ve asked people with information to contact the Kamloops RCMP detachment and reference file 2024-31206.

The ministry previously told CFJC that it has been working closely with Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and the City of Kamloops to manage traffic impacts following the loss of the Red Bridge. Premier David Eby is also on record calling the Red Bridge a “crucially important connector” in Kamloops.

The premier also said he will urge Farnworth to “find a pathway to deliver a replacement” structure over the South Thompson River.

“I think we have the ear of [Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth] in as much as we’ve got a pretty good rapport with him,” Stamer added last week. “Hopefully, we can just be able to encourage him going forward that those necessary increases and improvements in infrastructure have to occur now, not five or ten years from now.”

Councillor Katie Neustaeter, who chairs the Safety and Security Select Committee, said in August that she feared the province may try to short-change the city over plans to replace the Red Bridge.

“I’m concerned that they’re going to say to us, ‘Look, you can either have a replacement for the Red Bridge, or you can have this long overdue third passage,’” Neustaeter said, noting her concerns were linked to projects like the Kamloops cancer centre, which has had its share of concerns locally.

“We are not making a decision between a Red Bridge and another access point,” Neustaeter added. “It’s a non-negotiable point. Kamloops is owed two bridges.”

O’Reilly referenced those fears last week and said a replacement Red Bridge is not a new investment into highway infrastructure in the Kamloops area.

“That is a very real fear that (the province will say), ‘We’ve invested X amount of dollars in the Kamloops area’ and they’ll move on,” O’Reilly said. “But our traffic problems are very much bigger than just the Red Bridge replacement.”