‘It was insane. They should have left it closed’: driver speaks out about Coquihalla trip

After what was supposed to be a 4.5 hour drive from Port Coquitlam to Vernon turned into an overnight odyssey, a B.C. driver is speaking out saying officials should never have reopened the Coquihalla Highway on Thursday.

The highway closed on Thursday but then reopened only to close again.

Ryan Hobenshield got onto the Coquihalla just after the road was reopened late Thursday afternoon.

“My assumption at the time was they had shut it down so they could take their sand trucks and whatever else through to make it reasonably safe to drive,” said Hobenshield.

“It never should have been open in the first place. It was insane. They should have left it closed till they had time to treat it properly.”

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Hobenshield said the conditions drivers faced on parts of the Coquihalla Thursday were much worse than normal winter driving conditions and the highway was not adequately sanded.

“It looked like you’d imagine post-apocalyptic films. There [are] cars all over the place and nobody moving because they are terrified to move their vehicles because it is a giant ice sheet,” said Hobenshield.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It looked like you'd imagine post-apocalyptic films. There [are] cars all over the place and nobody moving because they are terrified to move their vehicles because it is a giant ice sheet," said Hobenshield.

He and his two daughters were in stop and go traffic before coming to a complete stop around 30 kilometers south of Merritt around 8:00 p.m. At that point they had already been on the Coquihalla for around four hours.

Read More: Hundreds stranded on Coquihalla Highway overnight, forced to sleep in their cars

Hobenshield said it was raining heavily and it wasn’t until around midnight that he managed to get the chains on his vehicle and attempted to continue the drive.

“It’s crazy they should never have opened the road in the first place.”

It took him another 1.5 hours to get to Merritt. The family made it to Vernon Friday morning. However, the Ministry of Transportation confirmed midday Friday that there were still dozens of vehicles “in the queue” on the highway.

In a statement the province defended their decision to reopen the road Thursday and said maintenance including sanding had taken place.

“Closing – or reopening – a major route is never taken lightly. The ministry made the decision to reopen the highway briefly last night, as crews had been out, plowing, sanding and salting and the weather forecast was projecting 10-15 cms of snow with some rain mixed in. Given these conditions and the forecast, the ministry made the decision to open the highway with a severe Travel Advisory remaining in place on Drive BC that alerted drivers to the conditions and chance of delays,” said a Ministry of Transportation spokesperson in a written statement.

“Unfortunately, intense and sustained rain/freezing rain continued for many hours. This precipitation on top of the compact snow surfaced resulted in severe ice conditions, with several vehicle incidents. Due to this unusual and unforeseen weather system, ministry staff made the decision to again close the highway northbound. DriveBC and the ministry’s social media accounts were posting throughout the night to keep drivers informed.”

The highway is expected to reopen again by 2:00 p.m. Friday.

– with files from Amy Judd