Just over two months after suffering catastrophic damage due to flooding and washouts from a powerful atmospheric river in November, British Columbia’s Coquihalla Highway reopened to the general public on Wednesday.
The opening came well ahead of initial projections on when the route could be open to regular traffic.
But while the road was open to the public Wednesday, it remains an active worksite with significant repairs still needed.
“A lot of construction involved, a lot of single-lane track, a lot of potholes, the conditions of the road weren’t that good. You can’t pass,” Tony Allen told Global News after driving the route.
“You get stuck behind a big truck and its a slow go.”
The highway initially opened to commercial vehicles and inter-city buses on Dec. 20.
More than 300 workers have continued working to implement temporary repairs which will allow the continued movement of goods and people while the Ministry of Transportation plans permanent repairs and upgrades to protect against future storms.
In the interim, drivers headed to the Interior should expect lower speed limits in numerous areas, along with sections where traffic is reduced to a single lane.
Until Wednesday, non-commercial traffic between the Lower Mainland and B.C.’s Interior were forced to rely on Highway 99 through Lillooet and Highway 3 through Princeton, both smaller, winding mountain highways.
Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne said the Coquihalla reopening will take some pressure off of his community, which has seen a massive increase in traffic.
“That’s a blessing and a curse at the same time,” he told Global News. ”
“We were kind of counting on some of that traffic for economic recovery, and at the same time it will allow us to get back to some normal activities on our highway.”
For tourism operators in B.C.’s Interior, reopening the route means a potential shot in the arm after a difficult 2021.
The massive reduction in international travel due to COVID-19 had left many counting on customers from the Lower Mainland — hopes that were dashed when the November storm cut the main link between regions.
“Metro Vancouver and certainly their own local catchments have been the bread and butter that have kept these areas going, and having those areas cut off literally physically has added some additional challenges,” Destination BC spokesperson Nancy Small said.
“It allows people freer movement into our incredible ski areas, resort areas in the Interior, which essentially have been cut off over the last six weeks.”
Big White Ski Resort senior vice-president Michael Ballingall said hopes were high the prospect of a much reduced drive could help drive a post-holiday boost in traffic.
“It’s taking two to three hours longer on Highway 3 for our customers to come from Vancouver, the Lower Mainland and Seattle,” he said.
B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation is warning drivers that the Coquihalla will still be a slower drive than they might be used to, with an extra 45 minutes of travel time tacked onto the stretch between Hope and Merritt.
That’s not a bad thing, according to at least one commercial driver who has been using the road since it opened to trucks last month.
“Everybody is driving fast, and there are a lot of accidents happening every day,” trucker Al Dajwa said.
“Welcome, just drive slow.”
— with files from Ted Chernecki and Catherine Urquhart
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