Key B.C. highway will reopen to traffic after flooding

Coquihalla Highway badly damaged by storms, mudslides, washouts during November storms

A key highway in British Columbia will reopen to regular vehicle traffic on Wednesday, three months after large parts of it were washed away by record rainfall.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming called the reopening of the Coquihalla Highway a significant milestone after the devastation caused by storms, mudslides and washouts in mid-November. A state of emergency that was put in place after the flooding was also scheduled to end on Tuesday at midnight.

“I’m very pleasantly surprised at the progress that we made,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.

However, not all regular services on the route connecting the Lower Mainland and the Interior will be immediately available, he said. Some rest areas will be closed along with electric vehicle charging stations, and only two of the highway’s four lanes will be in operation.

The highway has steep, mountainous sections and Fleming said conditions can change quickly at this time of year.

“With severe winter weather, people should only be on the highway if their vehicle has good winter tires, a full tank of gas and they have food and water and warm winter clothes with them.”

Before truckers and intercity buses began using the route on Dec. 20, crews repaired and patched numerous sections over 130 kilometres, including seven collapsed or washed-out bridges.

A series of atmospheric rivers streamed over the B.C. Lower Mainland and southern Interior in November, washing out major highways, flooding farms and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.

More than 300 workers using 200 pieces of equipment moved gravel, rock and other material to repair and reopen the highway to commercial vehicle traffic in 35 days, the province said in a news release.

Fleming said weight restrictions will also be lifted from Highway 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet starting Wednesday.

“This means that larger commercial vehicles will be allowed on the highway as they were before the November storms,” he said. “This is going to be very helpful for truckers who need to move goods within the local area.”