Lethbridge City Council Request More Information on Possible Third River Crossing – Lethbridge | The Canadian News

The issue of a third bridge in Lethbridge was back on the radar on Tuesday, when the city council last met in 2021.

Councilman Rajko Dodic introduced a motion at the meeting, which passed unanimously, directing the city administration to further investigate a possible location for the possible third river crossing that would be further south than the proposed Chinook location. Trail.

“There are two components to the resolution,” Dodic told Global News.

“One is for the administration to come back in September 2022 to see if the current site is still the preferred location or if a site further south might be appropriate, and secondly, if you were to borrow money, what would it be? in terms of impact on the average residential taxpayer? “

Tuesday’s discussion follows the inclusion of the issue as a non-binding voting question during the 2021 municipal elections, where 60.4 percent of voters answered affirmatively to the question: “Do you agree that the city council should approve plans to build a third bridge by 2030 as a municipal capital project priority?

The Chinook Trail location is near Riverstone on the west side and would join Scenic Drive on the east.

The information published by the city for voters before the October election, including a price tag of $ 175 million to $ 200 million, with an estimated municipal tax increase of nine to 11 percent, or 2.25 to 2.75 percent annually for four years .

“I just want to be able to put a real number on it and talk about it in terms of percentages, but real dollars and cents annually for taxpayers, and for how long,” Dodic said.

Dodic says he doesn’t think the current proposed location will receive any financial help from the provincial or federal governments, but he thinks it’s worth seeing if a location further south could lead to any funding.

“I know that in the past, if it was a completely local project, the province told us in no uncertain terms that they weren’t going to fund it at all, so we’re talking zero percent,” he said.

“If there is any chance of convincing the levels of government that this is part of a ring road system, then you have a better chance of getting some input from the other governments that might be involved. So at least if you have a resolution that at least shows that you are thinking about other potential options, you can advocate with the provincial government or the federal government. “

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The council has asked management to report its findings by September 2022.