In a major boost for the province of British Columbia, the storm-hit Coquihalla Highway could be open in time for the holiday season.
With hundreds working round-the-clock on repair efforts, it is now hoped that commercial vehicles could be back on the road in a much shorter period of time.
“We don’t know what part of the holiday season we’ll be able to do that, but that’s the plan,” said Transportation Minister Rob Fleming, as reported by CTV News Vancouver. “Every day counts in terms of repairs we’re able to make.”
Around 300 people are thought to have got involved in helping to fix the vital corridor, even in challenging weather conditions – with more than two feet of snow dropping in the area over the weekend.
It was initially thought that the highway would be reopened to commercial vehicles only by the end of January. Fleming claimed that the crews had “literally defied the odds.”
“For the time being, Highway 3 remains our only connection between the Lower Mainland and the Interior, and our focus there continues to be on safety,” Fleming said. “We have about 3,000 trucks a day now on that highway and it’s vital that we support the safe movement of essential goods.”
It is expected that more details will be released on the repairs on Wednesday.
