‘Hopeful’ outlook to reopen all 4 lanes of Highway 97 before end of this year
Transportation officials are cautiously optimistic Highway 97 between Summerland and Peachland could be restored to four full lanes of travel by the end of the year.
The highway has been reduced to one lane in each direction since an August 2023 landslide, which touched off a massive operation to blast and haul away approximately 60,000 cubic metres of unstable rock – enough to fill 24 Olympic-sized swimming pools – that has been going almost non-stop since last fall.
A massive earthen berm and retaining wall now occupy the two southbound lanes, while the blasting work proceeds above.
Approximately 43,000 cubic metres of material had been removed as of this week, according to Steve Sirett, regional manager for the B.C. Transportation Ministry, in an interview Thursday.
The remaining 17,000 cubic metres should be gone by the start of summer, at which point the main blasting operations can stop and crews can begin on the next phase of stabilization work.
That should also end the periodic 90-minute highway closures, usually one or two a week, that have been in place since last fall to permit blasting.
Shorter duration closures will still be expected as operations require, added Sirett, who advised motorists to check DriveBC anytime they’ll be passing through. But there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel.
“The expectation for the anchors and a retaining wall (being installed to stabilize the slope) is through the summer and the fall, so by the end of this year, I think, is hopeful” to have all four lanes reopened, said Sirett.
“But that’s still a long ways out and there’s still a lot of work to do.”
The anchors, he explained, are steel rods that will be drilled 15 to 25 metres into the face of the unstable slope to pin it to stable rock behind. Upwards of 300 such anchors will be required.
“Crews are making really good progress using all the daylight hours they can, seven days a week. For what we’re trying to do here, we’ve certainly not wasted any time, that’s for sure,” added Sirett, who listed the usual safety reminders.
“It’s a construction zone. Obey the signs. Keep the workers safe. Keep other travellers safe,” he said.
The unstable rock face is in the same area that gave crews trouble during the Highway 97 widening project in 2008 and required a three-week closure then.