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Highway 8 reopened to public nearly one year after flood damage

November 2021 flooding destroyed seven kilometres of road at 25 different sites
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Aerial view of the temporary bridge at Site 10A on Highway 8, 14km east of Spences Bridge. (Photo credit: Ministry of Transportation)

Nearly a year after it was hammered by the atmospheric river in November 2021, Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Merritt has reopened to all traffic.

The announcement was made by Highways Minister Rob Fleming on Nov. 9, some 361 days after heavy rainfall and the flooding of the Nicola River severely damaged — and in some areas obliterated — 25 sections of the highway and associated infrastructure; 45 kilometres of the highway were impacted, and seven kilometres were completely lost. Another five sites were affected by washouts in August 2022, and these have been repaired as well.

Access to properties for residents along the corridor was completed in late September, and the highway is now open to all vehicles.

“This is huge for residents,” says outgoing TNRD Area “I” director Steve Rice, who lives along Highway 8 and was evacuated from his property for several months until access could be restored in spring 2022.

“Having the highway open is a gateway to the Okanagan first and foremost, and it means people get to go back to Merritt. Some people haven’t been to Merritt in almost a year, because they didn’t want to go the long way via Ashcroft, Highland Valley, and Logan Lake.”

Incoming Area “I” director Tricia Thorpe, who lives near Lytton, notes that many residents of that area have social connections with Merritt: “Being able to drive back and forth will be so much easier now than having to drive up to Ashcroft and back down.”

She adds that having Highway 8 restored will make a difference in a region that has seen all its highways closed at different times over the past year or more.

“It’s winter, that time of year when weather impacts us, so there’s a fear of storms and what it does to the highways. You make sure you’ve got 72 hours of supplies minimum, make sure you have extra food for pets, and water, and fuel to run generators.”

The lands of four First Nations bands — Nooaitch, Cook’s Ferry, Shackan, and Nicomen — bands were impacted, and their members were crucial to rebuilding. Approximately 30 per cent of workers responsible for reopening the highway were Indigenous, providing skilled labour, heavy equipment operation and environmental and archaeological work.

Shackan Indian Band Chief Arnold Lambreau, who spoke to media on when the highway reopened to the public on Nov. 9, said the flood impacted every aspect of day-to-day life.

“When you look at the countryside, and how it’s been devastated, our animals are not there, our sustenance is not there. At one time, that’s what we relied on.”

Cook’s Ferry Chief Christine Minnabarriet echoed Lambreau’s sentiments, adding that the reopened highway restores the ability to “connect families and bring them home.”

“It provides connection to each other, our resources, hunting, fishing, gathering, even spiritual, but also to health care and other emergency services.”

While temporary repairs are now complete, the highway remains an active construction zone. Crews continue to install roadside barriers, place riprap to stabilize road embankments, and process rock to undertake permanent repairs along the corridor. Some sections of the highway have reduced speed limits and differing surface materials, including sections of gravel road, making the highway unsuitable for motorcycles. Ongoing construction will lead to delays and intermittent closures.

Thorpe says that even though some sections of the Highway are single lane only, it’s still awesome to have the corridor open again.

“Highways are single lane in sections in pretty much every direction we go, whether it’s Highway 1 to Hope or Highway 12 to Lillooet. The only way to go without a single lane section is to Kamloops, so going to Merritt and having single lane for a while won’t be a hardship. At least we have an access route.”

Rice says that even though the work so far is only temporary, it has straightened out a few curves and made for fewer drastic curves where the speed limit was a recommended 30 km/hr.

“It’s a whole new highway, like entering the Twilight Zone,” he says. “I drove it on Nov. 9 to get to Merritt, and there are still plenty of twists and curves, but the land has changed so much, and it’s bizarre to see. If you’ve travelled this road a lot before you’lll think wow, it’s really incredible what’s gone on here.

“There are a couple of one-lane bridges with traffic lights, and lots of gravel surfacing. Minister Fleming reassured us that if the Coquihalla Highway has to close, this will not be an alternate route.”

In a statement released on Nov. 9, the province noted that since Highway 8 is still a construction zone, it will not be a suitable detour if either the Trans-Canada Highway or the Coquihalla Highway is closed. In the case of either of those highways closing, access to Highway 8 will be limited to residents only.

Rice says that the number one question is when will the permanent work be completed. He notes that at the official reopening on Nov. 9, no one gave a definite answer.

“The mumbling is that it will take two years, but no one was willing to give a time frame. There’s lots of blasting going on every day, sometimes more than once, and there’s a 20-minute delay for that each time. Traffic control personnel have been hired, and with all the equipment on the road I don’t know how it will work with the road reopened.

“I don’t think they have a lot of answers; I think they just wanted to get it open by the one-year anniversary. But it’s a beautiful road, with no ruts or potholes, and the crew are really proud of it.”

Rice adds that while he’s seen a few logging trucks go by, traffic has been very light so far.

“Every 10 to 15 minutes I see a vehicle go by, and I’m hoping there won’t be a lot of looky-loos, and that people resist the urge to sight-see. I wouldn’t encourage people to travel the highway at this point in time. There’s a lot of construction going on, lots of heavy equipment. A truck carrying riprap passed me on a turn, and I was a little worried about those big rocks.

“There’s lots of delays and construction, so this is probably not the best time to be coming along and getting out of your car and taking pictures. I don’t think they’re going to want that.”



editorial@accjournal.ca

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