Skip to content

UPDATE: 3 separate slides close Coquihalla, Highway 1 and 7

Heavy rainfall has contributed to dangerous driving conditions
27176267_web1_Coquihalla-slide
A slide has closed the Coquihalla between Hope and Merritt on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2021

Four separate slides continue to close the Coquihalla, Hwy. 1 and Hwy. 7, just-north east of the Lower Mainland.

The Coquihalla is closed in both directions between Hope and Merritt, with the mudslide that caused the closure between Exit 202 and Exit 217, about eight kilometres south of the Great Bear Rainshed.

There is also a slide on Highway 1 near Popkum, which is why the highway is closed at Annis Road. Drivers heading east to Hope will need to detour to Yale Road and through Rosedale to the Lougheed Highway.

An earlier slide that closed Highway 1 north of Yale has reopened, according to DriveBC. However, heavy precipitation is continuing to make roads in the are dangeous.

Highway 7 is closed at Ruby Creek, between Hope and Agassiz, due to a rockslide. Emergency scanner traffic indicates emergency personnel are on scene of multiple vehicles being washed off the road.

Popkum Fire Department has been dispatched to the scene of a rockslide to an RV Park for unknown injuries or entrapment along Bridal Falls Road.

Kent-Harrison Search and Rescue volunteers are being evacuated by boat from the scene of the Rockwell Drive landslide after two trucks were trapped.

For the Coquihalla closure, Highway 3 is the alternate route.

There is currently no estimated reopening time for any of the routes.

READ MORE: Coquihalla could see flash flooding, up to 90 millimetres of rain by Monday afternoon

c


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.