About a year after the Red Bridge in Kamloops was destroyed by fire, Premier David Eby says planning work on a replacement is underway but remains in the early stages.

Eby was asked about the project during a Thursday news in Logan Lake, where he was announcing the province’s support for the Highland Valley Copper Mine extension by Teck Resources.

“The Ministry of Transportation has been working with the Kamloops,” Eby said, calling the Red Bridge “a crucially important connector.”

“The impact of that severed connection is profoundly inconvenient for the local community,” said Eby. “I know it is on the Transportation Minister’s list of priorities. So I continue to encourage him to do that work with the community and find a path forward to delivering a replacement.”

Urban Systems Limited was awarded the design contract in June, and the province is working in partnership with the City of Kamloops and T’Kemlúps te Secwépemc. No timeline has been released for construction.

City Council recently voted to request a public report on the status of the project. A proposal to broaden that discussion to include a second river crossing was shelved for now.