[ChrisZwolle]

Highway 8 in British Columbia has seen catastrophic damage from the recent flooding. According to the minister of infrastructure, there are 18 washouts and 4 collapsed bridges.

I wouldn't surprise me if it won't be completely rebuilt until 2023. There might be temporary repairs sooner.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8396216/b-c-floods-highway-8-closure-damage/

Also, Highway 5 (the Coquihalla Highway) might not reopen until next year. The damage is severe with multiple washouts, some very large washouts and several collapsed bridges. And the winter time isn't exactly the best period for large-scale construction work, with anything from rain to ice, 8 meters of snow, blizzards, avalanche risk and temperatures dropping down to -20.

I think the next route to reopen might be Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon. That route is at a much lower elevation so it's not as impacted by winter weather as Highway 3 & 5 are. So there is a big benefit to have this 'winter-proof' route reopen as soon as possible with temporary repairs. There are several large washouts due to slides, but these look like they can just be filled up, install a couple of big culverts and paved over, at least temporarily.

Both the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways were reported to have trains running down the Fraser Canyon since yesterday, which means that this was repaired in only 4 days (photo taken on 20 November).

BC Hwy 1 - Repair work underway at Tank Hill by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr

This is Highway 5 - The Coquihalla Highway.

BC Highway 5 - Coquihalla North of Hope at Othello by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr


Coquihalla Highway 5 Work near Lytton by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr


Highway 5 - Bottletop Bridge by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr


Highway 5 - Coquihalla Work Underway To Repair Jessica Bridge by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr

 

[smokiboy]

I think it is time for a new motorway between Vancouver and Calgary. A more direct route with many tunnels and bridges/viaducts to shorten travel time. This would be a massive investment of course, but could be built in stages over 10-20 years.

 

[hkskyline]

Highway 1 expected to reopen through the Fraser Valley on Thursday, minister says
Nov 24, 2021
CBC Excerpt

The province says it hopes to reopen Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley on Thursday.

The highway — the main thoroughfare between the Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C. — has been closed ever since extreme rains caused flooding along several sections of highway in Abbotsford.

The highway is also vital for the transportation of goods in the province and was a significant factor in the supply chain crunch affecting much of southern B.C.

More : https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/highway-1-to-reopen-thursday-1.6261298

 

[ChrisZwolle]

Highway 1 between Abbotsford and Chilliwack was built through a former lake, Sumas Lake, which was drained in the early 1920s. According to altitude data in Google Earth, this land is lower than the Fraser River, which explains why it flooded so significantly. Those farms may have been under 3-5 meters of water?

 

[hkskyline]

I believe that entire section of properties cannot be insured because of that?

 

[ChrisZwolle]

B.C. Transport minister Fleming just gave an update regarding the damaged roads during the floods from last week.

The Coquihalla Highway has 20 sites with damage, including 5 collapsed bridges. They expect that temporary repairs could have the highway opening by late January 2022, depending on how harsh the winter weather is. However the steepest and most weather exposed part of the Coquihalla Highway is undamaged so that can reopen with four lanes by that time.

Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley will reopen today, through Sumas Prairie (between Abbotsford and Chilliwack). These cities both have over 100,000 people and particularly Chilliwack was isolated, being cut off from the west and east. Highway 7 got an 'essential traffic only' order due to the intense traffic congestion through there. This is just a two-lane road going through Agassiz and Mission while Highway 1 is a four lane freeway.

 

[ChrisZwolle]

Tłı̨chǫ All-Season Road

Safe travels on the Tłı̨chǫ Highway

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is pleased to announce that at 10 a.m. this morning, the Tłı̨chǫ Highway opened to the public. This new all-season road connects the community of Whatì to Highway 3 via the Whatı̀ Access Road.

While this is exciting news for our territory, the GNWT reminds residents to drive safely, respect the posted speed limit and watch for wildlife on the road. Two pull-outs are available at Km 24 and Km 77 where drivers can park safely. Garbage bins are available at both pull-outs, we ask drivers to not litter and help keep our highways clean and safe. Cellular service is not available on most of the highway.

Safe travels on the Tłı̨chǫ Highway | Government of Northwest Territories

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is pleased to announce that at 10 a.m. this morning, the Tłı̨chǫ Highway opened to the public. This new all-season road connects the community of Whatì to Highway 3 via the Whatı̀ Access Road. While this is exciting news for our territory, the...

www.gov.nt.ca

and

'The opportunities are endless': Tłı̨chǫ Highway opens, marking a new chapter for Whatì, N.W.T.

The Chief of Whatì, Northwest Territories, will soon do something he's never been able to do until today — get in a car and drive to Yellowknife on a road that's open year-round.

"As soon as they remove that barricade, I'll be on the Whatì highway," said Alfonz Nitsiza.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, that barricade came down, and the largely fly-in community located about 164 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife is a fly-in community no more. A 97-kilometre, two-lane gravel all-season highway is officially open to the public.

The $185-million road known as the Tłı̨chǫ Highway connects to Highway 3 and onto the national highway system, year-round. Previously, Whatì was only accessible by a winter road, which typically opens late January and closes mid-April.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/tlicho-highway-opens-whati-all-season-road-1.6267723

 

[hkskyline]

Drone footage captures highway damage, repairs in southwestern N.L.
CBC Excerpt
Nov 29, 2021

Construction crews are out trying to repair major storm damage to the Trans-Canada Highway in southwestern Newfoundland.

An unprecedented storm washed out the highway in four places last week.

In this drone video from Sunday afternoon, you get a bird's-eye view of the damage, and how repair efforts are going.

More : https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/southwest-nl-drone-footage-1.6266778

 

[xzmattzx]

This is cool

 

[hkskyline]

Highway 1 to Hope reopens as rains ease in southern B.C., but flood warnings remain in place
CBC Excerpt
Dec 2, 2021

British Columbia is set to begin rebuilding from extensive flooding and mudslides after the last of three major storms eased off on Wednesday evening, but flood warnings remain in place for large parts of the province.

The stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway connecting the Lower Mainland to Hope, B.C., has reopened as of Thursday afternoon.

"I know this is very welcome news to many people in the region," Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said during a news conference.

More : https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wyntk-bc-floods-dec-2-1.6270645

 

[hkskyline]

DVP, Toronto

Don Valley Parkway by Jack Landau, on Flickr

 

[hkskyline]

Road builders ready as B.C. seeks bids to repair flooded highways
Global News Excerpt
Dec 4, 2021

The B.C. government is seeking bids for one of the biggest reconstruction programs the province has ever seen, with the record-breaking flooding and destruction from a series of atmospheric rivers.

Construction companies and engineering and design firms are being asked to respond to two requests for qualifications to rebuild highways that were battered and broken during the storms since Nov. 14.

The BC Highway Reinstatement Program will cover work on Highway 1 between Highway 11 in Abbotsford and Spences Bridge, Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt, and Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Merritt.

More : https://globalnews.ca/news/8425237/road-builders-repair-flooded-highways-bc/

 

[hkskyline]

Essential travel restriction lifted on Highway 7 between Mission and Hope, B.C.
Global News Excerpt
Dec 6, 2021

The B.C. government has lifted an essential travel restriction for Highway 7 between the flood-impacted municipalities of Hope and Mission.

Motorists are now able to use that portion of the road freely, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure confirmed Monday.

“Although Highway 1 is open for general vehicle traffic, with restrictions removed, traffic volumes on Highway 7 will increase,” it said in a news release.

More : https://globalnews.ca/news/8430156/bc-highways-update-dec-6/

 

[hkskyline]

No timeline on when Highway 3 may open to recreational vehicles
Global News Excerpt
Dec 7, 2021

As British Columbians make plans to visit friends and family over the holidays, the provincial government is advising people not to expect Highway 3 to reopen to non-essential travel.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming was asked multiple times during a news conference on Monday whether to expect a change for the major route through southern B.C. that was heavily damaged by the recent flooding and landslides.

The province will continue to update the public, but the highway remains open to essential vehicles only for now, he said, as substantial long-term repairs continue.

More : B.C. floods: No timeline on when Highway 3 may open to recreational vehicles | Globalnews.ca

 

[ChrisZwolle]

Highway 3 is the only road available for commercial trucks. Highway 99 from Pemberton to Lillooet has a 14 ton limit due to the steep and curvy sections at Cayoosh Pass.

I watched a number of those press conferences with minister Fleming. He said that while Highway 3 is open to truck traffic, travel times are considerably longer than normal. It could become problematic if large volumes of recreational traffic to ski areas and inland destinations are also going to use it.

Highway 3 is not a high-speed road like Highway 5. Highway 3 is also at a much higher elevation than Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon, making winter driving much more challenging.

 

[hkskyline]

Meet the new moose: Highway signs get an unexpected makeover
CTV Excerpt
Dec 7, 2021

As an 18-year -old student Chloe Chapdelaine was living in a trailer outside Foremost Alberta and driving past a moose crossing every morning on her way to work.

Something wasn't right. She started asking around.

"Is it just me or is something not right about that moose?" she says. "It was a little bit floppy."

So Chapdelaine sat down with a sharpie and drew up a new and more literal depiction of an adult bull moose. Gone was the long and prominent brow tine (rare in the wild), and in was a more muscular, svelte cervid, more befitting of the iconic Canadian animal.

Then she wrote a paper pointing out in detail where the old depiction of the moose had too much elk and elephant seal in its physique, and why her version ought to rule the roadsides of the Great White North.

More : Meet the new moose: Highway signs get an unexpected makeover

 

[hkskyline]

Why building more roads has environmental effects and won't ease gridlock in the long run
CBC Excerpt
Dec 9, 2021

There's controversy over a plan to build a new four-to-six lane highway in the Greater Toronto Area.

The government says the proposed Highway 413 (or GTA West Corridor) will ease congestion, while environmental groups estimate that by 2050, it will boost vehicle emissions by 700,000 tonnes a year and will have generated a total of $1.4 billion in health impacts and ecological damage from air pollution. It will also have paved over carbon-sequestering protected areas.

To be sure, congestion has lots of negative impacts — including environmental ones. Time spent in traffic translates into lost productivity, more collisions and vehicle-related deaths, more greenhouse gas emissions and more air pollutants that cause negative health impacts, such as respiratory problems and cancer, said Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, an assistant professor who researches sustainable development at École nationale d'administration publique (the University of Public Administration) in Quebec.

More : https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/what-on-earth-highways-environment-1.6279735

 

[hkskyline]

Repairs underway on Coquihalla Highway, officials confident with January reopening timeline
Global News Excerpt
Dec 10, 2021

Highway repairs from the aftermath of the atmospheric river on the Coquihalla Highway are well underway.

Substantial progress has been made on some of the damages along the highway.

“It’s really been a number of spectacular weeks of recovery reuniting every part of B.C., getting supply chains activated,” said B.C. Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming.

More : Repairs underway on Coquihalla Highway, officials confident with January reopening timeline | Globalnews.ca

 

[hkskyline]

Markham weighs adding its voice to growing Highway 413 opposition
Markham Economist & Sun Excerpt
Dec 10, 2021

Count some Markham residents and city councillors among the growing opposition to Highway 413.

A motion against the highway, first tabled by Coun. Jim Jones back in April, will finally make its way to council on Dec. 14 after being deferred again last month amid public outcry that not enough time had been offered for public input with a last-minute addition to the agenda.

The motion calls for a number of things, including a complete federal environmental impact study and an economic evaluation and time-travel analysis of Highway 407 versus the proposed Highway 413, including the potential for congestion and nonpeak hour pricing or other highway management alternatives.

More : Markham weighs adding its voice to growing Highway 413 opposition

 

[hkskyline]

Ontario's GTA highway tow truck pilot project beginning: Here are the new rules
CityNews Excerpt
Dec 12, 2021

Billed as an effort to crack down on violence in parts of Ontario’s tow truck industry, a provincial licensing pilot project is coming into effect on several 400-series highways in the Greater Toronto Area.

It was in March when the Ontario government unveiled the program, which could operate for up to four years, as part of a larger suite of measures to crack down, which also includes looking at stronger oversight and standardized equipment standards.

A team made up of officers from the OPP and GTA police services was also called for in order to probe suspected criminal activity.

More : CityNews