Update: 9:30 a.m., April 16
Drive B.C. said there is still no estimated time of opening the area east of Keremeos on Highway 3A due to a mudslide.
The next update is to come at 4 p.m.
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Update: 10:29 a.m., April 15.
Highway 3A remains closed in both directions 18.5 kilometres east of Keremeos because of the mudslide and DriveBC says there is still no word on when it might reopen to traffic.
The next update from DriveBC is expected on Monday at 4 p.m.
The recommended detour is for drivers to take Highway 3 to Osoyoos and then go on Highway 97 to Kaleden to get to Penticton or in the reverse direction travelling south from Penticton.
Use of Green Mountain Road is being restricted to local traffic as the road is not maintained for high traffic volumes and water is rushing fast in waterways near the road and in places spilling onto the road.
10:00 a.m., April 15
Rumours the Penticton Indian Band is blocking drivers from using Green Mountain Road as a detour around the Highway 3a mudslide are untrue.
Dawn Russell, the band’s communications co-ordinator, called the rumours a “total falsehood” when asked if the PIB was blocking the road or charging tolls to use it.
A major mudslide on Highway 3a at Yellow Lake forced the closure of the highway Friday morning and it remains closed Sunday morning, with no estimated time for it to reopen.
Related: Highway 3A closed because of mudslide for at least another day
Green Mountain Road is an alternate route, running through the PIB and connecting Penticton to a point on Highway 3a south of the slide.
Russell posted on Facebook that Green Mountain Road is open but not maintained to the quality of a frequently travelled highway.
“No one is being turned around or redirected,” she wrote.
