Coquihalla closure overwhelming route through Princeton, mayor wants province to step in

UPDATE: As of Tuesday midday, the Coquihalla Highway has re-opened, with a travel advisory in effect due to wildfires. Drive BC says the highway is open for essential travel only. The Ministry of Transportation also replied Tuesday to say additional resources have been deployed. 

PRINCETON (NEWS 1130) — With the Coquihalla closed due to wildfires, anyone trying to get from B.C.’s Interior to the Lower Mainland will be detoured through the small town of Princeton — and the mayor is asking the province for more help dealing with the rush of cars clogging the routes into and out of his community.

Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt was closed due to the July Mountain fire, which jumped the highway Sunday night around 7 p.m. and merged with a blaze burning on the other side. The fire is estimated at 20,860 hectares in size. According to DriveBC, the highway will remain closed until at least 9 a.m. Tuesday.

PLEASE RETWEET (photo from #Coquihalla last night)
Prepare for highway closures due to #BCWildfires – we may have to take action with limited notice.
Avoid non-essential travel to/within impacted areas to avoid traffic congestion on evacuation routes: https://t.co/QKhf3bl9Cl pic.twitter.com/ZUyhpE2AXe

— BC Transportation (@TranBC) August 16, 2021

Drivers are being detoured to Highway 5A, which runs between Merritt and Princeton, before driving through Princeton and getting onto Highway 3

Mayor Spencer Coyne says his town is struggling to handle the influx of cars, as evacuees from the Interior, vacationers heading home after the weekend, and others heeding the province’s advice try to leave the hard-hit southern Interior. The lineup of vehicles at what Coyne describes as a “pinch point” on the edge of the community where Highway 5a meets Old Hedley Road seemed endless Sunday night, and still snaked far into the distance Monday.

“It really puts the strain on local resources and creates a dangerous situation,” Coyne tells NEWS 1130.

“It’s only one lane in one way, one lane out. When you get this bottleneck of thousands of vehicles, essentially, coming through the community into that intersection, traffic backs up for kilometres at that point and it creates a lot of frustration.”

There is one other route available to frustrated drivers trying to get through Princeton, but Coyne says that route is also a potential hazard.

“That becomes a bigger nightmare, because then you get semi-trucks, you get overweight vehicles, you get regular passenger vehicles, and they’re all trying to cross a one-lane bridge. It’s an old wooden bridge it’s close to 100 years old. So, it causes more problems.”

Whether drivers take the bridge or not — they will ultimately end up on the town’s main drag.

“We get all that congestion that comes through town. People are then trying to do highway speeds because now they’ve been sitting in traffic for long periods of time, they’re frustrated,” he explains.

“There’s businesses on both sides of the street so you have the possibility of pedestrian accidents as well as motor vehicle accidents.”

RELATED: Wildfires near Merritt, Kamloops, West Kelowna threaten homes, close Coquihalla Highway

Coyne would like to see the provincial transportation ministry send flaggers, or set up temporary lights to control traffic.

“When the ministry is going to reroute all that traffic through our community, then they need to be responsible for their roadway, and that means putting somebody in place to deal with the traffic,” the mayor says

Meanwhile, Coyne says the town’s one bylaw officer and small volunteer fire department will be directing traffic — but that isn’t sustainable.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to tax our fire department. and we don’t have a great big full-time fire department in town so it’s going to tax them if they have to stay out there all night doing traffic control.”

The bottleneck created by single-lane access to the town is something Coyne says residents and local politicians have been trying to get the province to address for quite some time.

NEWS 1130 reached out to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for comment Monday, and received a response Tuesday confirming additional resources were sent to Princeton.

“We understand the frustration caused by the traffic delays in Princeton and have implemented additional supports to help alleviate these concerns,” says a spokesperson in a statement.

“Traffic control personnel were sent to Hwy 5A and Bridge Street intersection in Princeton to assist with the efficient movement of travelers during peak traffic, they remain on site to assist [Tuesday], and will remain until they are no longer needed.”

Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement staff have increased patrols, as has the company that maintains the highway.

“The Coquihalla is now open to essential travel, which should alleviate congestion in Princeton,” the statement concludes.

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