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Coquihalla remains closed overnight

The highway has had a snowfall warning since Wednesday afternoon
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The Coquihalla Highway continues to be closed due to severe winter weather. (Jessica Okert/Facebook)

Update 5 p.m.

The Coquihalla will not be open until at least the afternoon of March 4, says MOTI.

Avalanche control is planned for Saturday morning.

Highways 1 and 3 are alternate routes between the coast and the Interior, though traffic is expected to be much heavier than usual.

Update 3:10 p.m.

A tweet from the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) says crews are busy clearing more than 70 centimetres of snow from the Coquihalla. The highway remains closed between Hope and Merritt dues to extreme winter weather.

Update 1:50 p.m.

The Coquihalla will remain closed in both directions until at least 4 p.m. as crews continue to create safer driving conditions.

Environment Canada has also lengthened the snowfall warning, stating the stretch of the highway from Hope to Merritt is expecting another 15 centimetres.

Update 10:40 a.m.

The vehicle incident in the southbound lanes has been cleared but the highway is now closed in both directions due to heavy congestion and extreme winter weather.

Crews are clearing snow to create safer driving conditions.

DriveBC’s next update will be at 2 p.m.

Update 9:55 a.m.

DriveBC estimates the Coquihalla’s southbound lanes will be open around 11 a.m.

Update 8:05 a.m.

The Coqiuhalla Highway’s southbound lanes will be closed until at least 10 a.m. due to a vehicle incident. According to DriveBC, major delays are expected and an assessment is in progress.

Original

The Coquihalla Highway is closed southbound between Hope and Merritt due to a vehicle incident.

The closure is at Ladner Creek Bridge and all southbound lanes are closed. According to multiple posts in the Coquihalla Road Reports Facebook group, a semi-truck has crashed into a power pole and BC Hydro is on the way. There is no power outage in the area.

All northbound lanes are open. DriveBC’s next update will come at 8 a.m.

Since Wednesday afternoon, the highway has had a snowfall warning. The warning got extended by Environment Canada on Friday morning as another 5-10 centimetres is expected. Heavy snow is expected to slow down as Friday goes on.

More to come.

READ MORE: WestJet plane makes emergency landing in Kelowna due to engine fire


@cunninghamjordy
jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com

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Jordy Cunningham

About the Author: Jordy Cunningham

Hailing from Ladner, B.C., I have been passionate about sports, especially baseball, since I was young. In 2018, I graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree
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