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Non-essential travel on Hwy3 not allowed, not recommended
Government officials said progress is being made to repair and reopen highways affected by storms and floods.
However, access to Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton will remain restricted and there is no timeline for when non-essential travel will be allowed.
Speaking at a media briefing Monday, Transport Minister Rob Fleming said it was vital for Highway 3 to stay open to preserve supply chains.
It comes as pressure mounts on officials to answer a key question for many; will non-essential travel be allowed before the holidays or should prospective travellers buy plane tickets.
“We’re just going to have to keep updating people,” Fleming said. “Right now, it would not be very pleasant to get in your car to drive to a ski hill from the Lower Mainland to the Interior. There’s a lot of trucks there, it’s a very busy corridor, it’s slow and winding, it takes approximately twice as long to get from Surrey to Keremeos right now.”
Meanwhile, Fleming said the highway continues to perform fairly well as it acts as the lone corridor for connecting commercial vehicles from Metro-Vancouver to the rest of B.C., however, there have been accidents reported on the road, and he encourages people be safe.
“We’ve worked very closely with the trucking industry to make this route as safe and efficient as possible,” he said. “We’ve issued detailed maps for drivers who may be unfamiliar with the road; we have new highway signage warning of steep and winding conditions; there is an enhanced winter road maintenance regime in place now; and we have a greater police presence along the highway.”
He said drivers should be prepared to slow down, be patient, and drive to conditions.
Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley to Hope reopened last week, and so far the flow of traffic has been steady.
“This means that we’ll soon be able to lift the essential travel designation for Highway 7,” Fleming said.
Work along the Coquihalla is ongoing, with crews working around the clock to address the 20 sites where the highway was damaged or washed away.
“We remain optimistic that enough temporary repairs can be completed to allow traffic on the corridor by late January,” said Fleming.
“There is one important caveat with this and the time line, and that is, of course, the weather. As long as we see typical seasonal conditions, the end of January time line is achievable."
--With files from Liam Verster/Vernon Matters
Published 2021-12-06 by Glenn Hicks
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