Coquihalla Highway reopens to truck traffic

British Columbia’s “hampered” supply chains received a big boost with the reopening of the main transportation route for goods going to and from Metro Vancouver, a trucking industry spokesman said.

The Coquihalla Expressway between Hope and Merritt reopened earlier Monday to commercial traffic and intercity buses.

It had been closed since mid-November after heavy landslides and flooding damaged the four-lane highway in numerous areas.

“The uncertainty we’ve had over the past month is what really hampered the industry,” said Dave Earle, president of the BC Trucking Association, who traveled to Hope to participate in a reopening event.

“They tell us it’s between 45 minutes and an hour extra,” he said of the travel time on the route.

“The road is reopening to limited movements, and it sure is not like Coquihalla was. There are sections where there is a traffic lane in each direction, with speed limits of 60 (kilometers per hour) ”.

But the route is safe and the repair work that was done over the past month is “absolutely spectacular,” Earle said.

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The Coquihalla, also known as Highway 5, opened ahead of schedule after it was closed to traffic on Nov. 14, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said.

Crews repaired and patched about 20 stretches of the highway over 130 kilometers, including seven collapsed or washed-out bridges, it said in a statement.

Atmospheric rivers brought record rains that led to flooding and debris slides throughout the Fraser Valley and the southern interior, closing roads, flooding farms and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes and communities.

“The people who build and maintain roads in British Columbia have an unsurpassed reputation and their response to the recent disaster has been remarkable,” said Fleming.

“Ministry crews, maintenance contractors and hundreds of workers speeding through challenging conditions have enabled us to reopen the Coquihalla Highway today, providing BC’s commercial drivers with a safe and efficient route between the coast and the interior.”

Fleming had originally forecast that the highway would not reopen until late January at the earliest.

More than 300 workers using 200 pieces of equipment moved more than 400,000 cubic meters of gravel, rock and other materials to repair and reopen the road in 35 days, the ministry said.

Earle said having the use of the Coquihalla Highway provides more predictability for the movement of goods through British Columbia.

“It’s a game changer,” he said. “If companies can move loads reliably in a reliable time frame, they can plan better. We can regain those efficiencies in the supply chain.”

Now that most commercial vehicles are moving onto the Coquihalla Highway, Fleming said travel restrictions will be lifted from Highway 3 on Tuesday, allowing the route between Hope and Princeton to be used for non-essential travel.

Restrictions on Highway 99 from Pemberton to Lillooet have also been lifted, but large commercial vehicles are not yet allowed on that section of the route, he said.

Fleming said repairs to the Coquihalla Freeway are temporary and commercial drivers should be prepared to reduce speed limits and pattern changes.

He also cautioned that Highways 3 and 99 are mountainous routes where weather can change quickly and drivers need to be prepared for winter conditions.

The Trans-Canada Highway in parts of the Fraser Canyon near Boston Bar remains closed due to flood damage and Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Merritt is completely closed due to flood impacts.

This Canadian Press report was first published on December 20, 2021.