Highway 7 re-opens to essential travel between Agassiz and Hope
Posted November 18, 2021 4:16 pm.
Last Updated November 18, 2021 4:57 pm.
Highway 7 has re-opened to a single lane alternating for essential travel between Agassiz and Hope.
Drivers are warned they may experience major delays due to expected congestion.
Earlier in the week, the province declared a state of emergency and provincial leaders are urging British Columbians to not travel unless necessary.
“This is for people who have urgent needs,” Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, emphasized. “In fact, as a general rule if you’re safe and secure where you are, we ask you keep any travel in impacted areas in your region to only that which is absolutely essential.”
On Wednesday, people stranded in Hope because of flooding were allowed to leave, as the highway reopened for a limited time in the evening.
Then, Thursday morning commercial vehicles were allowed to get through Highway 7 between Hope and Agassiz
Fleming says the next “the next piece in this link is connecting to highway three.”
“This will be … for very limited traffic but it looks to be feasible by the end of this weekend.
“And as we begin to get these high priority routes open we are drafting traffic plans to make sure that we prioritize essential goods and services to get through first and we will update those traffic plans as other types of travel are feasible.”
Meanwhile, Highway 1 from Hope to Boston Bar is open for emergency access only
Highway 1 east of Boston Bar and Highway 5 eastbound of Hope is still closed.
