File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Coquihalla Highway

New Coquihalla contractor looks back on first major snowstorm of the season

Dec 23, 2019 | 1:51 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — The first major snowstorm of the season has come and gone over the B.C. Interior and with it, the first weekend of trying to keep the Coquihalla Highway clear for Yellowhead Road and Bridge (YRB).

The highway maintenance company won the provincial contract to maintain the Nicola region beginning July 1, 2019. That region includes the Coquihalla Highway from Highway 97C (Logan Lake turnoff) through to Portia, as well as a large portion of the Okanagan Connector.

A snowstorm that arrived in full force Thursday night dumped more than a meter of snow on the highest elevations before finally moving off Saturday night.

“It was a very significant storm event,” YRB regional general manager Dave Duncan told CFJC Today. “Over about a 40-hour period, we had about 125 centimetres of snow fall over the Coquihalla Summit area. We had crews and equipment out working 24-hours-a-day to keep conditions good.”

While there were some brief closures to deal with clearing and spun-out semis, Duncan says the company was pleased that there were no serious vehicle incidents.

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YRB has contracts to maintain five separate regions in B.C. and has been working on B.C. roads for three decades.

Even so, Duncan says the amount of traffic on the Coquihalla is an eye-opener for the company.

“The one thing that’s unique on the Coquihalla system is just really the volume of truck traffic and the volume of vehicle traffic coming to the Interior,” said Duncan. “It’s obviously gone up in the last number of years. Certainly, that’s unique to the corridor and so it was definitely a new experience for us to see that kind of volume of traffic and then trying to do our jobs out there to keep the highway open and safe.”

Duncan lauds drivers for keeping calm and respectful while YRB’s crews worked during the storm and tipped his cap to the province’s Ministry of Transportation for issuing an early travel advisory for the route.

“I think [the ministry] recognized the significance of the event early on and so they put out a travel advisory letting motorists know, with really clear language, that they were going to see a significant weather event and that there were going to be delays.”