Washout forces detour
Highway 33 traffic being directed around section of closed road
A portion of Highway 33 east of Kelowna washed out early Tuesday morning, closing the highway.
The washout occurred just south of the Mile 8 hairpin curve, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said in an email.
A 6.5-kilometre section of the highway was closed in both directions from Goudie Road to Cardinal Creek Road, 22 kilometres east of the junction of Highway 33 and Highway 97.
A detour was available via Goudie Road and Cardinal Creek Road.
Shortly before 1 p.m., Drive BC reported no oversized loads were permitted to take the detour.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there was no estimated time of reopening.
“There were no injuries or vehicles damaged as a result of the slide,” said the ministry. “Our geotechnical team was on site extremely quickly and is currently assessing the situation.”
Higher-than-average snowpacks in the Okanagan are increasing the risk of mudslides and washouts, said the ministry.
“Ministry staff are doing everything possible to maintain safe conditions and minimize road closures.”
Joe Rich resident Tonya Aguiar said the washout was bound to happen with the significant amount of snow in the area this year.
“I know there had been some water sliding across the road due to the amount of snow and runoff and wetness we’ve had this year,” she said Tuesday morning. “There’s been quite a few landslides throughout the Okanagan. It’s just happening this year with the amount of snow we had. The land is very wet.”
Washouts also closed a section of the Mission Creek Greenway in Kelowna on Tuesday.
The Pinnacle Trail loop past the KLO Creek Bridge, the Black Bear Trail along Mission Creek and the upper Greenway Trail leading to the Hydraulic Creek trail-end are closed until further notice while Regional District of Central Okanagan staff assesses damage, stability and possible repairs.
“With creeks expected to continue rising due to the recent weather and with spring runoff, people are reminded that water levels may rise unexpectedly and they . . . should stay safely back from creek banks, which may be slippery or subject to erosion from the spring runoff,” said Bruce Smith, spokesperson for the regional district.
In the South Okanagan, the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen says 148 properties north of Oliver are on alert as a dam and culvert are in danger of releasing.
The alert means residents should be prepared to leave immediately if an evacuation order is issued, and they should have essential items such as medications, keepsakes and documents readily available and a plan for where they can alternatively stay.
A local state of emergency was first issued at the end of March as dams in the region reached capacity due to spring rains and snowmelt.
The state of emergency has since expanded and more properties around Green Lake are now under evacuation alert because of increased flooding.
The district says rainfall last weekend was causing overflows at Green Lake and the province had launched work on Crown land to mitigate the flooding while engineers began pumping the lake to manage water levels.
Meanwhile, Highway 3A between Keremeos and Penticton reopened to single-lane alternating traffic on Tuesday afternoon.
The highway was closed Friday following a mudslide at Yellow Lake that brought down an estimated 9,000 cubic metres of debris — enough to fill nearly four Olympicsized swimming pools.