The Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Kamloops and the Okanagan could be opened as soon as early January if favourable weather conditions continue for extensive flooding repairs, B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says.
At an Emergency Management B.C. briefing from Vancouver Dec. 9, Fleming said “we’re throwing everything we have” at repairs along the Coquihalla, and the original estimate of restoring some traffic by the end of January may have been pessimistic.
Work continues on major rockslide and water damage in the Fraser Canyon route north of Hope as well, with that on target for resumption of truck and other essential traffic by mid-January, Fleming said. While both routes are out, Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton serves as the only road link from the Lower Mainland to the B.C. Interior, and it continues to be restricted to essential traffic only.
Passenger traffic for the holiday season won’t be safe mixing with “convoys of trucks” on Highway 3, Fleming said.
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@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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