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BC  

Hwy 1 closed overnight

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m.

A series of mudslides that rolled over Highway 1 in British Columbia's eastern Fraser Valley won't be completely cleared away until Saturday, the Transportation Ministry said.

The muck and debris is creating delays for both drivers and rail traffic.

Fraser Valley Regional District spokeswoman Jennifer Kinneman said the slides came down early Thursday in several locations on the Trans-Canada about 120 kilometres east of Vancouver.

"It's a fairly long stretch of the highway and I understand there were five separate points where there was a mudslide on that road," she said.

Kinneman said the nearby Popkum Fire Department responded to the first calls for help because some drivers and passengers in vehicles were stranded by debris or power lines that had come down.

An RCMP news release said there were no injuries reported.

The slide has also impacted Canadian National Railway traffic that runs beside the highway and while some trains are still moving, there have been delays.

A CN spokeswoman said rail crews were on the scene clearing debris from the tracks and are expecting to work through the night.


UPDATE: 4:40 p.m.

The Ministry of Transportation anticipates it will have one lane of the Trans-Canada Highway at Bridal Falls open to alternating traffic by noon Friday, but a full opening won't happen before Saturday afternoon.

Geotechnical engineers have completed a detailed review of the area, and crews and heavy equipment have begun removing debris from the landslide, the ministry reports.

Crews will focus on clearing the westbound lanes first and establish counterflow traffic on the west side of the highway. 

The eastbound lanes are buried in considerably more debris and are not expected to be cleared until Saturday afternoon.


ORIGINAL: 4:20 p.m.

A series of mudslides that rolled over Highway 1 in British Columbia's eastern Fraser Valley won't be cleared away until Friday.

The muck and debris is creating delays for both drivers and rail traffic.

Fraser Valley Regional District spokeswoman Jennifer Kinneman said the slides came down early Thursday in several locations on the Trans-Canada about 120 kilometres east of Vancouver.

"It's a fairly long stretch of the highway, and I understand there were five separate points where there was a mudslide on that road," she said.

Kinneman said the nearby Popkum Fire Department responded to the first calls for help because some drivers and passengers in vehicles were stranded by debris or power lines that had come down.

An RCMP news release said there were no injuries reported.

The slide has also impacted Canadian National Railway traffic that runs beside the highway in the area and while some trains are still moving, there have been delays.

A CN spokeswoman said rail crews were on the scene clearing debris from the tracks and are expecting to work through the night.

DriveBC says geotechnical experts assessed the stability of slopes along the highway on Thursday, the cleanup is in progress and the estimated time of reopening is noon on Friday.

A detour is available via Highways 7 and 9 through Agassiz and the lines were long on the route on Thursday afternoon.

Environment Canada lifted a rainfall warning on Thursday for eastern sections of the Fraser Valley that had been deluged with rain over the past several days.



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