10-hour long Coquihalla closure leaves hundreds stranded

Traffic is once again moving on Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt after a lengthy closure resulted in hundreds of people stranded on Thursday.

Bo Skapski was one of the people stuck on the highway. The Kelowna man and his wife were making their way back to the Okanagan from Langley when the road was shut down.

“We were stuck for approximately five hours,” Skapski said. “I was a little frustrated, like everyone else but that’s life.”

In the end, it took the couple more than 10 hours to get back to Kelowna.

The Coquihalla was closed numerous times Thursday due to heavy snowfall. As much as 30 centimetres of snow accumulated in the span of five hours.

“In the southbound overall we had closures of approximately six hours spread out throughout the afternoon and in the northbound direction, a little bit longer of an impact spread through the course of the afternoon and evening that added up to about 10 hours of closures,” Trent Fold with the B.C. Transportation said.

The Transportation Ministry strongly encourages travellers to pack an emergency kit together before heading out onto mountain passes. The emergency kit should include food and water, a first aid kit, lights, washer fluid and a scraper, extra warm clothes and kitty litter because if your car gets stuck in deep snow or slick ice, sprinkling some sand or kitty litter at the base of your tires can add some traction and allow you to move again.