A series of accidents between Hope and Merritt on Thursday brought traffic on the Coquihalla Highway to a halt for more than seven hours.
Traffic finally started moving again just before midnight, but by then the damage had already been done.
Frustrated drivers told Global News they couldn’t get through to police or DriveBC for updates on when they could get moving again.
“They had no information for me, they just told me to ‘sit tight, it’s going to be a long one’ and if I run out of fuel, to call 911.”
Environment Canada did issue a special weather statement for the region on Thursday as about 30 centimetres of snow fell between Hope and Merritt.
A snowfall warning and travel advisory remains in place on Friday.
Up to 25 centimetres of new snow is expected to fall over the Coquihalla Summit between Hope and Merritt, Allison Pass from Hope to Princeton and Kootenay Pass in the Selkirk Mountains.
The snow is expected to taper off Saturday morning.
In a statement to Global News, the Ministry of Transportation said:
During the winter, all of our contractors have staff on shift to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; however, it does take some time for crews to get on scene, confirm the location, impact to the travelling public, and post closure/delay information to DriveBC.
Winter closure durations are very dynamic situations with often rapidly changing weather, and it can be difficult to estimate opening times due to the numerous contributing factors such as: the ability to plow and sand around queues, reduced capacity of the roadway, challenging tow recovery conditions, etc.
DriveBC is regularly updated with highway and road conditions, weather conditions, etc. People can also view our network of highway cameras, which now has nearly 700 highway webcam views at more than 380 locations throughout B.C., with near real-time coverage. We encourage all drivers to check DriveBC before they head out on their journeys – to “know before they go”.
On DriveBC, there is currently an extreme weather travel advisory on Hwy 5 the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Kamloops and Hwy 97C from Merritt to Kelowna.
These travel advisories were posted at noon on December 28th, warning motorists of “expected heavy snowfall producing limited visibility, and urging motorists to exercise caution, be prepared for potential delays, and consider alternate routes.”
When travelling in the winter on interior roads and high mountain passes like the Coquihalla, motorists should always plan ahead, make sure they have the correct winter tires on their vehicle, and ensure they have enough fuel, warm clothes, food and water.
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