Effects of extremely hot summer in B.C. linger on Coquihalla Highway

Parts of the Coquihalla Highway are beginning to look like a lazy person’s couch.

“This summer's heatwave caused major rutting in the right lane of the Coquihalla between Kamloops and Merritt,” according to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Facebook. 

“These grooves in the pavement would channel water and hinder plowing over the winter. So, (Oct. 7) we're grinding out the humps, and creating a more level, rough surface, which we'll leave over winter for better traction. The sections are at Inks Lake southbound and Desmond Hill southbound.”

The highway isn’t the only part of B.C.’s infrastructure to be damaged by high temperatures – sidewalks on Turner Avenue in Peachland also responded to the hot weather by changing shape.

Recording-breaking temperatures also led to crops getting “cooked,” with raspberries, cherries and apples among the fruits damaged by this year’s extreme heat.

READ MORE: 64 more people than average died in Interior Health during heat wave

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