Roadwork to avoid in the Southern Interior this summer

Tourists aren’t going to be the only thing adding to traffic congestion this summer as the provincial government is planning 630 kilometres of highway and road upgrades in the Southern Interior.

The provincial government is spending a total of $57 million to fix up the roads in the Southern Interior, according to a Ministry of Transportation media released issued, May 9.

The ministry wasn’t able to provide specific dates for the construction projects and advised the driving public to check DriveBC for updates. The ministry also refers to lane kilometres in the release. Those are a kilometre of length at a single-lane width.

Highway 97 from Trout Creek to Summerland is getting 80.5 lane kilometres of asphalt resurfacing which is currently underway. 

Starting in early June, Highway 97 through West Kelowna and Highway 33 in Rutland is getting 73 lane kilometres of resurfacing.

Between Vernon and Oyama, Highway 97 and some side roads totalling 88 lane kilometres are going to be resurfaced by the end of the summer at the cost of $11 million. Some of that work is already underway.

Highway 23 from Nakusp to Galena is getting a new seal coat application spanning 103 lane kilometres starting next month and some patchwork will start later this month.

Highway 3 from Sunday Summit to Princeton is getting hot in-place asphalt recycling for 101 lane kilometres of road, which is when the top layer of asphalt is ground down and heated to improve the surface with the same asphalt. This work is going to start sometime late in the summer.

Starting in July, Highway 1 through the Malakwa and some side roads are getting 46 lane kilometres resurfaced.

Work to pave 60 lane kilometres on Highway 5 from Cedarside to Tête Jaune is starting in June. Some side roads will also get some fresh pavement.

In the Columbia Valley, 73 lane kilometres of side roads are set for resurfacing late in the summer.