‘Herculean effort’ underway to get B.C.’s supply chain back on track
Posted December 2, 2021 4:50 pm.
Last Updated December 2, 2021 4:51 pm.
Some optimism in B.C. as the weather has finally improved, the rain has stopped, and supply chains are slowly getting back on track.
“We are now on the other end of the series of intense storms and the latest events were thankfully not as severe as forecast,” B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said Thursday, adding, “Environment Canada is forecasting more typical seasonal conditions for the next week.”
Many river advisories are being lifted as have some evacuation orders.
One of the key factors to B.C.’s recovery remains reconnecting communities that have been cut off by mudslides and flooding.
The essential corridor of Highway 1 through Abbotsford reopened Thursday afternoon, bringing some hope again to British Columbians who have watched that community be ravaged by the storms.
ICYMI via @DriveBC#BCHwy1 is now open from #Abbotsford to #Chilliwack. All lanes are open. Expect slow traffic with reduced speed limits. Commercial vehicles over 63500kg are prohibited.
The ramps for No. 3 Road and Cole Road remain closed.https://t.co/RdSJKG71eh pic.twitter.com/JYmAZocqTq— BC Transportation (@TranBC) December 2, 2021
Highway 3 has remained open, allowing some thousands of truckers to get through which is keeping shelves stocked with food, and allowing other vital goods to be replenished.
“The supply chains we have been able to reopen, and this is through herculean effort,” B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Thursday.
That route, Fleming says, remains southern B.C.’s vital link to eastern Canada.
Although he also warns that since the route remains one of the few open, it’s incredibly important that the essential drivers using the highway are aware of the conditions.
“There are sections where Highway 3, as we know, is steep and winding and drivers do need to slow down, but it is a safe route,” he said.
It comes after two transport trucks collided last Friday, leaving three people dead. Another crash happened Monday, also forcing the route to be closed temporarily.
In the area east of Princeton, the road is still too dangerous to reopen, but crews are working to repair it.
Elsewhere in the province, crews are able to now address the next steps to repairing the roads to ensure traffic can get back to more normal levels.
“Highway 20 weathered the storm events very well and remains open,” Fleming said about the route near Bella Coola.
However, Highway 99 remains closed Thursday. A slide came down late Wednesday night near Duffy Lake, no one was hurt, but the area is still unstable.
Fleming says the road will be closed until at least Friday because they need to have a geotechical survey to ensure public safety.
The Malahat Highway remains open to two lanes, and more repairs are needed so there will be some more delays to motorists overnight Thursday.
“It continues to perform well,” Fleming said about the vital Vancouver Island route.
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Highway 8 is completely devastated and will need significant rebuilding activity.
“I don’t have a cost amount, but I think it will be a lot and the federal government is aware of that,” Fleming said.
Those rebuilds will also work with contractors on improving the roads to meet the needs of the future with climate change in mind.
RELATED: Coquihalla Highway could reopen by late January to commercial traffic
The goal to reopen the Coquihalla Highway to commercial traffic is ongoing, and Fleming is optimistic that the province will meet its timeline by the end of January.
“Rail has been incredibly important as well,” Fleming added, also pointing to the use of routes through the United States to get around the flood damage.
He says there are efforts to remove the bottleneck at the ports, especially with Christmas approaching.
“Food and goods are on the way, they are on the move, there are thousands of trucks that are able to use our highway system now,” Fleming said.
RELATED: One-on-one with Abbotsford’s mayor: City safe from more flooding, focus shifting to long, costly recovery
Meantime, Abbotsford’s mayor says the city hopes to begin lifting more evacuation orders over the next few days, if the weather co-operates.
The city has lifted its order for Huntington Village but the rest of the Sumas Prairie remains evacuated.
Henry Braun says conditions are improving with the Barrowtown floodgates now reopened and the Sumas Prairie lake bottom having dropped seven more inches in the past day.
He says his key concern is having people safely access properties and that the city is actively working with the provincial and federal governments to meet the needs associated with evacuations.
Braun commends the federal government and Red Cross for providing $2,000 for people affected by the floods, saying that though it’s just the “tip of the iceberg,” it’s a good start.
With files from The Canadian Press
