6 weeks of intermittent Highway 1 closures near Hope, B.C., set to begin

The province is warning drivers that Highway 1 outside of Hope, B.C., will be closed 10 times a day, between 20 and 35 minutes each, over thenext six weeks in order to complete work meant to prevent rockfalls in the area.

The work is set to take place near Hunter Creek, about 10 kilometres west of Hope, which is in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. It takes around anhour and 45 minutes to drive there from Vancouver.

The province said fire activity last September burned vegetation along a bluff above the highway, which had previously helped bind rocks together. With the vegetation gone, there is an increased risk of rockfall, according to the province.

"This work will mitigate that risk," said the province in a statement. It also said travel delayscould exceed 35 minutes due to"unexpected issues."

Rock scaling refers to when workers, suspended from ropes, remove loose material from a slope above a highway in order to mitigate future rockfall risk.

Closures in both directions

The rock scaling work requires multiple daily short closures of the Trans-Canada Highway in both directions near exit 160 at Hunter Creek Road, so that debris can be safely removed.

The full highway closures will happen on the hour, beginning at 8 a.m. PT and concluding at 6 p.m. each day, Monday to Saturday. On Friday afternoons the last closure will be at 2 p.m.

There will be no closures on Sunday as work will not be conducted that day.

Over the Victoria Day long weekend, there will be no closures from Friday, May 19 through Monday, May 22.

A detour is available via Highway 7. Signs warning of Highway 1 delays will be posted in advance of detour turnoffs.

The province is asking driversto obey the direction of traffic control personnel and the speed limit within the construction zone.

Updates on the intermittent closures can be found at DriveBC.ca