Highway 5 near the Box Canyon Chain Up as of 10:15 a.m. Nov. 17 (Image Credit: DriveBC)

By Victor Kaisar

Coquihalla Traffic

Multi-vehicle incident causing delays on Coquihalla south of Merritt

Nov 17, 2024 | 10:21 AM

KAMLOOPS — UPDATE (11:05 a.m.): The northbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway near the Great Bear Snowshed are blocked because of a multi-vehicle incident, according to DriveBC, though traffic is getting through.

Drive BC says the incident is between Exit 202: Portia and Exit 217: Zopkios Brake Check, and that delays of up to 30 minutes are expected due to congestion.

People heading south on the highway took to social media to say while they saw a number of trucks putting on chains, many others were spun out.

DriveBC cameras at Box Canyon showed a lengthy line of vehicles in the northbound lanes as of just after 10:15 a.m. Sunday.

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This incident comes as Environment Canada is forecasting another five to 15 centimetres of snow on the Hope to Merritt section of the highway Sunday.

“Snow levels are currently around 1200 m early this morning with lower elevations seeing a transition to rain, however snow levels will fall down to 500 by late morning, resulting in more snow along the mountain pass,” it said in an update early Sunday.

“While the main band has moved through the area, flurries will persist now through Monday afternoon, with most of the snowfall anticipated now through this evening.”

DriveBC says the next update is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. this afternoon. You can find the latest information here.