Highway 97 between Penticton, Kelowna to open after rockslide closure

Highway 97 between Penticton and Kelowna is set to open on Friday after nearly a month-long closure due to a rockslide.

The mainline highway route initially closed on Aug. 28 as rocks slid down a hillside near Summerland, limiting the most convenient travel route between the two Okanagan communities and even prompting evacuation alerts for some properties in the immediate vicinity.

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Detours were put in place early along Highway 5A, Highway 3, and Highway 33. While those options presented a few feasible alternatives, none of them were nearly as convenient as the short highway drive along the Okanagan Lake where the rockslide occurred.

As work on stabilizing the hillside progressed, crews managed to open one lane to alternating traffic on Sept. 11.

Now, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says one lane of traffic in each direction is scheduled to open on Friday at 12:00 p.m.

“Contractors built a lock-block wall to protect the highway from falling rock. In addition, a 150-metre berm between the lock-block wall and the bottom of the slope was constructed to temporarily address slope movement. Construction of permanent stabilization measures will continue,” the government stated in a release issued Thursday.

The government says “geotechnical engineers continue to monitor the slide site for changes in ground conditions.”

According to the ministry, the stretch of highway could be closed again without much notice if the situation changes or if travel through the area is “deemed unsafe.”

It warns that heavy rainfall would increase the risk of another closure.