Hwy 3A rockslide east of Keremeos discussed in B.C. legislature; MLA raises concerns

Rockslide a topic in Victoria

Photo: Contributed

Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson raises rockslide concerns in Victoria.

Tuesday's rockslide closing Highway 3A east of Keremeos was brought up in the B.C. legislature following comments from Boundary-Similkameen MLA Donegal Wilson.

In session, Wilson bought up the slide incident, noting that a previous rockslide in the area had longterm impacts.

"The last time this happened, the highway was shut down for a week, and repairs took months, it cut off our communities and choked our local tourism economy," she said.

Wilson asked the Minister of Transportation and Transit when the province would invest more in transportation lifelines.

"[There's been] $15 billion in capital projects [...] that this government is investing in every part of the province. Road builders in this province [...] will tell you that they have more work now than they ever had " said Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth.

The minister added that his office and crews are doing "everything to ensure that that road is cleared as quickly as possible, and assessing what additional work needs to be undertaken."

Farnworth said rockfall catches are at the slide area, which were overwhelmed.

"So, following this will be an assessment on how to make it stronger and better so it's able to deal with situations like this if they occur in the future."

Later on Facebook, Wilson said temporary fixes are not enough.

Most recently, Drive BC has said it expects the rockslide will result in a "lengthy closure" between Green Mountain Road and Twin Lakes Road.