The operators of the Penticton Speedway are cleaning up the area after a small landslide sent a stream of water running through the track.
Speedway owner Johnny Aantjes estimated the slide was about 100 feet in width, 50-60 feet in height and 40-50 feet deep, and took out six to 10 trees. It also sent a stream of water through the track.
“We managed to get the water diverted relatively quickly, so now we’re on the clean-up mode,” Aantjes said. “We’re pretty sure that the water’s not going to come back. It’s not going to egress through the spot that it was coming onto the track.”
Now, Speedway personnel just need to clean up the mud that was left on the track. Aantjes said he expects the Speedway will be up and ready for the next race on Sunday, as long as the creek doesn’t make its way back onto the track.
“It’ll take a couple days, and then we should be OK.”
It’s far from the first slide in the region this spring. One Naramata property had a slide of similar size run beside her house after a quarry overloaded, and West Bench Hill Road was closed for a few days while crews cleaned up a slide just off of Highway 97.
Similarly, Highway 3A was closed for several days due to a larger slide.
