43rd Street Vernon Creek Crossing

November 25 UPDATE: The project has been paved and line painting has been completed.  There is landscaping/fencing and environmental rehabilitation work remaining, and the intention is to open the road once this work has been completed. The project is on schedule and on budget.

May 22 UPDATE: The project has been awarded to Chapman Industries Ltd.  The project is expected to start in June once the final permitting has been received. 

There will be 2 phases on construction: 

Phase 1 The contractor will be setting up June 5 to remove trees, pending permit approval, and setup detour signage. Construction is planned to start June 10 and traffic will be detoured around the whole site with access only for emergency services for Phase 1 of the project prior to the bridge removal.  

Phase 2 will occur from August to November. The bridge will be closed entirely to all traffic. The old crossing will be removed and replaced with the new one. Detours will be in place, and all traffic will be rerouted around the construction site.

Project Details

The City of Vernon is undertaking a critical project aimed at enhancing the resilience of its infrastructure and safeguarding the community against potential flood-related disasters.

The Vernon Creek crossing at 43rd Street, situated upstream of the Vernon Water Reclamation Centre (VWRC), has been identified as a constriction point. In the recently completed Detailed Flood Mapping, Risk Analysis and Mitigation project looking at both Vernon and BX Creek, the crossing located at 43rd Street was identified as a priority for replacement due to the flood risk under an ever-changing climate. 

This project incorporates downstream bank armouring next to the VWRC, multi use pathway connection from Okanagan Avenue to Okanagan Landing Road as well as stormwater upgrades to a critical outlet originating from Tassie Creek above. 

The City's grant application to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program Green Stream - Adaption, Resilience & Disaster Mitigation (ARDM) has been approved for up to $2.4M in funding towards the new crossing. Construction is anticipated to start in June of this year ( 2024).