For the next two weeks, drivers heading north on Highway 23 should pay attention at the ‘quarter mile’- about 4 km past town limits. Speeds are slowed and flaggers are on site 24 hours stopping traffic to allow travel in both directions. During the heavy rains on April 27, part of the bank washed out and requires a significant amount of fortifying before the road can be reopened for normal use.
A culvert designed to direct a stream under the highway became unable to take the volume of water and overflowed down the northbound ditchline approximately half a kilometer, where it continued over the road and caused the washout of the shoulder on the southbound lane.
Aaron Lintott, Foreman with Yellowhead Road & Bridge spoke to the Arrow Lakes News, “We are replacing the culverts with bigger and better armouring so we shouldn’t have water coming down the ditch anymore.”
Plans include adding riprap and rock to rebuild the embankment. Lintott added, “This hasn’t been an easy winter or an easy spring, but we have YRB and Galena on site and we just stay ready.”
Updates are posted to drivebc.ca.
