Student's killer on parole
Charges after investigation
Hostage was on captor 
Regulating power prices
Gen X is raking it in
LeBlanc laying groundwork
US vetoes UN resolution
$100M Nassar settlement
12 Trump jurors picked
Rates slow green economy
Vicinity hires president,
Record housing starts
Warriors ready for Round 2
Kalamalka Bowl cancelled
Rockets live to fight on
Rihanna's parenting ‘hack’
Tarantino scraps film
Munn talks cancer battle
New technology will shorten winter closures on the Trans-Canada Highway through Three Valley Gap, near Revelstoke.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone announced new measures to improve safety in the avalanche-prone area.
Current avalanche-control methods use explosives dropped from helicopters. While effective, it can only be done in daylight and when weather allows. Many times, this leads to closures that can extend to more than 16 hours.
Stone says the ministry has announced a request for expression of interest in a new avalanche-mitigation system using remote-control explosive devices.
The system will significantly reduce the duration of highway closures for avalanche control and is anticipated to be in place next year.
Also, to help traffic flow more efficiently through Revelstoke and Golden, a new traffic light signal timing system has been put in place. Using sensors, it can adjust timing to relieve intersection congestion.
Twenty new digital, variable-speed-limit signs will also be installed between Revelstoke and the Perry River Bridge, near Malakwa. The electronic signs will be linked to sensors in the road surface, and adjusted based on road conditions in adverse weather conditions.
The signs will be installed this fall.
Digital signs will also be installed on the Coquihalla and Sea to Sky highways.
"In addition to continued four-laning of the Trans-Canada, we also want to shorten the time that people are stuck in their vehicles during a road closure and open up the Trans-Canada as quickly as possible, to get people and goods moving again," says Stone.
Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo said: "Along this section of highway, weather conditions can switch from rain to snow very quickly, and it's not always easy to know what speed you should be travelling. I am happy to see that new digital speed limit signs will be introduced to help drivers stay safe on the highway."
In an average year, the highway can be closed for nearly 200 hours, and during high snow years, that figure can increase to nearly 400 hours.
