iN VIDEO: More convenient detour around Highway 97 rockslide

PENTICTON – Traffic began flowing on the Callan Road detour around a slide site on Highway 97 this morning.

With no timelines for reopening the highway in sight, the detour is a relief for commuters who were forced to use the 201 Forest Service Road and other alternate routes after a rockslide fell closed the highway on Feb. 2.

Ministry officials said this afternoon, Feb. 11, the Callan Road detour was working well for both private and commercial vehicles.

The 900 metre long detour has a speed limit of 30 km/h and will be subject to occasional stoppages of up to 45 minutes to allow for blasting to take place, but no blasts will be scheduled during peak commuting hours of 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure spokesperson deputy director Paula Cousins says scheduled blasts will be made public whenever possible.

Commercial vehicles exceeding three metres in width are only permitted between midnight and 5 a.m., and the detour is prohibited to pedestrians and cyclists.

The forestry road detours set up last week will no longer be maintained, Cousins noted, with further travel on those roads discouraged due to safety reasons.

The south side of the slide site continues to move at a rate of around three millimetres daily, and workers are continuing to drill and blast in an effort to break up the moving portion of the slide.

“There’s significant drilling involved in pretty extreme temperatures. We are slowly plugging away at removing the material we are hopeful is contributing to the movement, so we’ll be monitoring it in the coming days in the hope we see a reduction in that movement,” Cousins said.

Drivers are asked to check Drive BC and the ministry’s Twitter postings for updates.

via @DriveBC – VIDEO: Callan Road detour opened this morning to both light vehicles and commercial trucks. As this route is directly below the slide site, barriers have been installed above Callan Road to ensure safe travel along the detour. #BCHwy97 #summerland pic.twitter.com/JOOvYoXpyX

— BC Transportation (@TranBC) February 11, 2019

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