Coquihalla to reopen Friday, says minister

Motorists may able to travel the Coquihalla Highway as soon as Friday afternoon, B.C.'s transportation minister said Wednesday morning.

A break in the weather Tuesday allowed avalanche technicians to drop explosives from helicopters into the unstable snowpack on the slopes above the highway, reducing the risk and allowing crews tocontinue snow removal work, said Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon.

"That means we are now working full steam ahead to start clearing the three kilometres of highway that is pretty much blocked with snow. It is a massive effort, obviously, but they're throwing all their equipment at it and they will be working 24 hours a day to complete that work," said Falcon.

Bob Gogan of VSA Highway Maintenance told CBC News crews are working to remove more than 200 dump truck loads of snow from the road.

"We've brought in extra resources front-end loaders, excavators. They push the material back on to the sides of the road as far as they can. We've also got large snow blowers that run along the sides of the snow that have been deposited and it blows the snow anywhere from 30 to 100 feet away from where its final resting place was," said Gogan.

On Monday, it appeared the highway would remain closed at least until the weekend, but Falcon said he is now very confident the highway will reopen on Friday afternoon.

Closing route likely saved lives

Falcon said the decision to close the Coquihalla Highway may have saved the lives of motorists who might otherwise have been travelling the busy route between Metro Vancouver and the province's Southern Interior.

The route was first closed on Monday morning after heavy snow raised concerns about avalanches along the mountain route.

Then, just hours after the route was closed, several avalanches swept down from the mountains, covering all four lanes of the empty highway in up tofive metres of heavy snow and debris, said Falcon.

Avalanche technicians working in the area said conditions were the worst they had seen since the route opened more than 20 years ago.

Mudslide, avalanches close other B.C. routes

Meanwhile avalanches and a mudslide continued to cause problems on other highways around B.C.

Just hours after crews managed to clear a massive slide from Highway 97 between Prince George and Chetwynd the threat of an avalanche forced the closure of Highway 3 between Salmo and Creston, although that route has also now reopened.

As well, a mudslide blocked Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge in the Southern Interior. That routewas expected to open by noon PT Wednesday.

On the North Coast, the Nisga'a Highway from Greenville to Kincolith was recently reopened after it was also closed earlier in the week due to avalanche risk.

So far nobody has been injured in any of the incidents, but at least 24 people have died this winter in other avalanches in Western Canada and the U.S., mostly while skiing, snowboarding or snowmobiling in the backcountry, making it one of the worst avalanche seasons in recent memory.