Coquihalla to be closed again | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
Subscribe

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Current Conditions Mostly Cloudy  4.8°C

Kamloops News

Coquihalla to be closed again

Crews continue to clean up the Coquihalla Highway following two weeks of heavy snow and avalanches.
Image Credit: tranbc.ca

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — The Coquihalla is still at risk for another avalanche and as a result will be closed as helicopters once again take to the sky for some avalanche control work Tuesday.

The highway, which reopened Saturday after being shut down for nearly 48 hours, will be closed from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. It is the third time in just over a week the major highway has been shut down for avalanche control and cleanup.

The Ministry of Transportation says high winds and new snow over the past three days have filled the avalanche paths and the planned closure will allow crews to conduct helicopter avalanche control to reduce the snowpack in these paths and clean up any deposits that reach the highway.

Detours are available via Highway 1, Highway 3 and Highway 8. Further updates will be provided on drivebc.ca.

The highway was first closed due to an avalanche last Tuesday and it took just over 24 hours to clean up from it. Two days later another avalanche hit and crews have been working at both avalanche control and clean up since. Lanes are still narrower than usual through the summit area due to the avalanches as well as the more than three metres of snow that has fallen over the past two weeks.

To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014
iNFOnews

  • Popular penticton News
View Site in: Desktop | Mobile