Coquihalla could reopen sooner than expected: Fleming

Work to repair sections of B.C.’s highways damaged by floods and mudslides continue, which may mean the Coquihalla can open sooner than expected.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said he, along with the federal Minister of Transportation, Omar Alghabra, and Minister for State of Infrastructure, Bowen Maw, visited the Coquihalla last Friday. He said the tour of the area allowed them to see firsthand the devastation caused by the flooding and mudslides, but also allowed them to see the ‘impressive work’ being done by highway repair crews.

He said the work by the 200 individuals and 300 heavy pieces of equipment has allowed them to hit two milestones at both ends of the corridor.

“At Bottle Top Bridge on the north end and at Caroline Bridge on the south end we’ve established temporary accesses. Those were completed and that has allowed equipment to move over the badly damaged bridges. This is a development because it’s speeding up the movement of construction equipment along the corridor,” said Fleming.

“In turn, as each site is repaired, all the workers and equipment are being redeployed to the next site, which is making repairs to the entire corridor that much quicker.”

He did note that while the weather may cause some temporary work delays, he believes the highway could be reopened to essential and commercial vehicles even sooner than early-January as predicted last week, though no exact date was given on Monday.

“Day by day, we’re getting closer to being able to advise the public on when the Coquihalla might be usable again for commercial trucks, and, of course, part of that strategy is to reopen [Highway] 3 to general travel.”

For the time being, Highway 3 remains limited to just commercial and essential travellers as it is the sole corridor within the province that can support large vehicles that need to be used to connect the Lower Mainland with the Interior.