Highway 19 northbound was finally cleared at about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 after a fallen tree snapped a power pole and brought down power lines over the highway in Parksville earlier in the day.
While crews were busy clearing the first incident, more trees came down, according to an update from Drive BC Vancouver Island’s Twitter at 1:03 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 17). Drive BC initially estimated Highway 19 would reopen at noon.
Drive BC tweet
Drive BC tweeted at about 2:15 p.m. saying the incident had been cleared.
The incident began at about 8:30 a.m., following the first major rainfall of the season, when the tree came down just north of the Highway 19A exit near the weigh station south of Parksville. Northbound traffic caught beyond the Highway 19A off-ramp was directed to turn around and proceed down the northbound on-ramp to detour onto Highway 19A.
downed tree
The inland Island Highway was then closed northbound and traffic was diverted onto 19A, where it quickly backed up. Southbound traffic on Highway 19 has remained unaffected, though traffic has slowed as it passes the site of the downed wire.
Drive bc tweet
BC Hydro had arrived and assessed the scene by 10 a.m. A crew member told The NEWS that workers were ready to begin clearing the tree, but had to wait for clearance that the downed lines were secure.
According to BC Hydro, there were power outages in both the Parksville and Qualicum Beach areas, affecting about 3,000 customers. Both outages have since been resolved.
— NEWS Staff
