British Columbians might be able to drive from the Lower Mainland to the Interior over the holidays after all.
Transportation Minister Rob Fleming told a news conference Monday that work is progressing at breakneck speed on repairing the Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5). After the initial reopening set for late January was moved up to early January, he now says it could be even sooner.
“Thanks to the determination of crews, who are going 24/7 at it in terms of repair work, we expect to be able to open up even earlier than that date. I will have a full Coquihalla update on Wednesday, describing the scope of repairs and timeline for when that highway may be reopening to commercial traffic,” said Fleming.
Once truck traffic is diverted to Highway 5, the plan is to allow non-essential passenger vehicle traffic onto Highway 3, which is currently only open to commercial vehicles and essential travel.
That could happen during the holiday season, said Fleming. “We don't know what part of the holiday season we’ll be able to do that, but that is the plan. As I said, we’ll have a full update on Wednesday.”
“Every day counts in terms of repairs we're able to make. There are some variables like the weather. Weather can be very uncooperative when it comes to paving some sections of the areas that are under repair right now. It’s too soon to say exactly when we can expect the Coquihalla to be reopened to commercial traffic and then Highway 3 to be reassigned to general traffic.”
Highways 3 was plagued by multiple crashes and jack-knifed semis this past weekend, and Fleming re-iterated that safety and speed enforcement is a top priority and that they will continue to be priorities when the route is open to non-essential travel.
“We’ll keep on things like the enhanced maintenance. We’ll keep on the portable sign reader boards and driver education and being aware of the new posted speed limit on the number 3 when we make adjustments to it for general travel.”
Fleming admits there could be a rush of holiday traffic but he also suspects that given what’s happening with the health crisis and COVID-19 that people are taking provincial health advice, which is to stay home and stay local. He adds that indoor gatherings are problematic right now. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry could have more to say on that front later this week.
Fleming toured the repairs on the Coquihalla Highway last Friday with the federal transport minister and expressed how impressed he is with how quickly crews have managed to make repairs, calling BC road builders second-to-none.
“One thing on Friday that I heard, again and again, is that people involved take this very personally. It’s a point of pride to be part of this important project to connect B.C. with the Interior, and indeed the rest of the country.”
