TransCanada Highway closure hurts truckers

Traffic is expected to begin moving along the Trans-Canada Highway again this weekend after a temporary shutdown that will cost the trucking industry millions.

The shutdown was triggered Friday when both westbound lanes and one of two eastbound lanes were washed away about 30 kilometres east of the Saskatchewan border. It happened when two large drainage systems below the road failed.

Temporary repairs could see both eastbound lanes open to single-vehicle traffic in each direction by Saturday, said Doug Wakabayashi, spokesman for Saskatchewan Highways.

Efforts would then shift to reconstruction of the westbound lanes, which could take another four to five weeks. Crews will then shift all traffic back onto the westbound lanes while putting the finishing touches on the eastbound lanes.

Wakabayashi said with engineering work still underway, it’s too soon to say when the route will be back to two lanes in both directions and ready to handle its normal volume of 4,700 vehicles per day, although that date looks to be late in the summer driving season.

Fifty dump trucks belonging to the ministry and private contractors have been deployed to deliver aggregate for the new roadbed, and hauled about 7,000 tonnes of material to the site by Tuesday.

Wakabayashi said there is more relatively minor damage, such as side slope erosion, closer to the interprovincial border, but it will not likely delay the reopening. It’s much the same case in Alberta, although water is still running over a stretch of about 300 metres just west of Walsh, said Alberta Transportation spokesman Trent Bancarz.

Local traffic is now allowed in the area, and Highway 41 south to the U.S. border has been reopened. But interprovincial traffic is still being rerouted north on Highway 41 and Highway 9 to the Saskatchewan border. The detour means a trip from Medicine Hat to Swift Current that clocks 225 kilometres on the Trans-Canada now stretches to 520 kilometres. For trucking companies, the added expenses of time and fuel will result in huge bills.

"It’s going to be millions and millions, I can guarantee it," said Mayne Root, executive director of the Alberta Motor Transport Association, which represents the province’s highway haulers.

Canadian Pacific Railway also had one of its main lines washed out by flooding. It’s rerouted traffic onto its northern lines and sister lines in the United States, said spokesman Kevin Hrysak. The company is waiting for the terrain to dry out before completing repairs.

Apart from the transportation side of things, all flood watches and warnings in Alberta have ended because of declining water levels, and the situation also seems to be improving in Medicine Hat, which was among the communities hardest hit by last week’s heavy rains.

The city’s fire chief, Ron Robinson, said only nine families remained out of their homes Wednesday afternoon, and 65 per cent of the 224 homes that were evacuated had been inspected for damage. None were condemned. About 75 businesses also need to be inspected.

Robinson said the city took a "collective breath of relief" as flood waters began to recede, although two city streets remain closed because bridges have been destroyed.

In neighbouring Cypress County, "more than a few" people remain out of their homes in Irvine and Walsh, said peace officer Anna Mast. Although Mast couldn’t offer a more specific number., she said many evacuees are still staying in their RVs.

Five local governments continued with their declared states of emergencies on Wednesday, down from nine on the weekend.

The Red Cross is working in most of those areas and has issued a nationwide appeal for cash to provide cleanup kits to flood victims. The kits include bleach, mops and sponges.

jfries@theherald. canwest.com