KEREMEOS, B.C. — This week marks the third time this year Highway 3 near Keremeos has been shut down due to a rock slide. Keremeos Search and Rescue is sounding to the alarm on how a highway closure could affect its ability to save lives.
“One of the issues that we have with the slide is that we work with other groups, such as Princeton. If there is a call out of the Princeton area, or if we call them for mutual aid, they’d be blocked off to us,” explains rescue manager Al McCormick.
This latest slide is believed to be triggered by the intense weather.
“At this time, we think it’s weather-related, due to the freeze-thaw that occurred recently,” says Steve Sirett, a district program manager with the Ministry of Transportation.
McCormick anticipates there will be even more freeze-thaw cycles in the upcoming months, turning the situation for the worse.
“I can see that we may have more slides, or the potential for greater slides. Hopefully, there won’t be anything catastrophic because that’s the concern. There are school buses, medical vehicles and others that travel through that road everyday,” he says.
The Ministry recently built a concrete wall on the side of the highway, meant to block rocks from crashing into traffic.
But in yesterday’s slide, there were still rocks that made it around that wall.
It says more work will be done starting next summer, including excavating the slope and building a larger catchment area.
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