Coquihalla remains closed
Posted February 22, 2014 8:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Coquihalla between Hope and Merritt remains closed because of the unprecedented levels of snow.
Crews are working on each side of the avalanche zone trying to clear as much as they can.
“We understand there is frustration amongst the travelling public. We have to make sure that first and foremost our avalanche control crews they have to get into the site and deploy their explosives to bring this additional snow that’s sitting precariously up at the top,” explains Transportation Minister Todd Stone.
Stone says three metres of snow has fallen in nine days and that is an historic level.
“Mother nature has thrown us a pretty dramatic curve ball here. The instability of the snow pack has created avalanche hazards that has the potential to impact the road at locations that have never reached the highway before.”
Stone says every hour the highway is closed there is a significant economic impact as well.
