On Thursday, the Ministry of Transportation announced that all major blasting was complete at the site of last summer’s landslide off Hwy 97 near Summerland.
The Ministry said that news meant that closures of more than 20 minutes along the stretch of highway would be “much less frequent.”
That theory was tested immediately, however, as AIMRoads revealed Friday that a 90-minute closure of Hwy 97 is planned for Saturday.
According to the road contractor, the highway is scheduled to be shut down in both directions from 11 am until 12:30 pm on Saturday.
It will reopen “as soon as the work and safety assessments are completed.”
The highway was also shut down on Thursday night from 10-11 pm, but that was to make adjustments to traffic flow now that the major blasting has finished.
Hwy 97 has returned to four-lane traffic between Callan Road and Summerland, but the north end of the slide site remains two lanes of traffic for now.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
