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UPDATE: 4 p.m.
Highway 97 shows no signs of reopening Tuesday.
The latest DriveBC update is that the highway between Callan Road and Okanagan Lake Provincial Park remains closed for the foreseeable future.
DriveBC says another update will be provided around 8 a.m. Aug. 30.
Meanwhile, motorists are advised to use highways 97C, 5A, 3 and 33 as detours, and stay out of the backcountry. Some navigation apps have been directing drivers to unpaved forest service roads and even glorified ATV trails, such as the Garnet Valley route between Summerland and Peachland.
A Castanet reader provided a photo, below, of the Garnet Valley route to let drivers know why to avoid it.
UPDATE: 3:15 p.m.
As Highway 97 remains closed in both directions north of Summerland after a major rockslide tumbled across the road Monday afternoon, the local area MLA is asking provincial bodies to "do better."
“They've got to do better and I'm gonna be real frank here. Highway 97 is our main artery through the Okanagan Valley and all you need to do is take a look at how many people commute to work either from Peachland to Penticton for Penticton to West Kelowna,” Penticton MLA Dan Ashton said.
“We've got to address this issue quicker. We were fortunate in the last slide, there was a detour route around through Summerland that was used on it and we got by with that.”
In that case, construction and road closures were ongoing from Monday, May 15, after a silt and clay bluff beside Highway 97 fell and material covered all four lanes, until construction crews officially cleared out of Summerland and finished up their slide mitigation work over two months later, on July 26.
“This may be a different story and to ask people to drive down to the Osoyoos go over to Highway 33 and come in the back way into Kelowna or drive over to Princeton, go up to the Coquihalla and come in, is not reasonable,” Ashton said.
In 2019, a major rockslide closed the highway for most of February. A detour route below the highway was eventually put in place and the highway itself was re-opened, but full repairs took well over six months.
The slide has closed the road between Callan Road and Okanagan Lake Provincial Park. An initial estimate is that approximately 3,000 cubic metres of material came down.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said the specific location where the rockfall occurred has had minor rockfalls historically.
Ashton said that this again is just another indication a secondary route is needed between Kelowna and Penticton.
“Just think of a nurse working at the cancer clinic in Kelowna, living in Penticton or living in Summerland, and that commute. That's a five-plus hour commute total during the day. It's wrong, and we've got to figure something out,” he said. "It's a lot of headaches for a lot of people."
The ongoing ask from Ashton has been for the ministry to upgrade the 201 Forest Service Road connecting the east side of Penticton to Kelowna as a usable emergency route.
“I've asked the government, let's keep it graded. Let's get proper signage up there, so when this happens, bang, they shut the highway down, we start diverting traffic through Penticton up to the 201, getting them into Kelowna.”
Ashton said he doesn't know why that still has not been done.
“I'm gonna keep asking and be a little bit more demanding. And unfortunately, this is in the entire valley, the only spot that doesn't have a good secondary road to get in now.”
Some navigation systems, such as Apple Maps, are directing traffic to Garnet Valley Road west of Summerland as an option.
However, that road is not paved and not maintained.
“Stay out of the backcountry right now. Number one, the roads are atrocious in some places. Second of all, the last thing we need is another accident up there and another fire may be caused by a car giving them trouble,” Ashton said.
MoTI crews conducted an aerial geotechnical assessment on Tuesday morning and heavy equipment is standing by to clear debris when it is safe.
The ministry said there is currently no estimate of when the highway may reopen.
Ashton said he wished he knew more, but information isn’t flowing to him either.
“It's long overdue for all governments present, future, even past. Let's take a look again into secondary routes. We've got to for safety because geologically that is a difficult area for the highway. So we know it let's get a fix,” he added.
“I really think there's an opportunity now for the government, for the ministry, to shine. Let's do that, let's get an official secondary route.”
UPDATE: 2 p.m.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says they have no expected timeline for when Highway 97 will open up north of Summerland.
In a statement provided to Castanet Tuesday afternoon, MoTI said an estimated 3,000 cubic metres of material came down during the slide.
An aerial geotechnical assessment took place Tuesday morning, and heavy equipment is "ready to move" to clear debris once the area is deemed safe.
They have no estimate as to when the highway will reopen, and continue to reiterate that alternative routes are via Highways 97C/5A/3, or Highway 33.
UPDATE 12:25 p.m.
Highway 97 remains closed in both directions north of Summerland due to the slide.
DriveBC says the road is closed pending a geotechnical assessment with the next update due at around 4 p.m.
Castanet has reached out to the Ministry of Transportation for information and will update this story when more is known.
UPDATE: 10:20 a.m.
Reports from Castanet readers and on social media warn against travellers attempting to use alternate back-road routes to and from Kelowna and Penticton if drivers are not familiar with the area, and without proper vehicles.
Some navigation systems, such as Apple Maps, are directing traffic to Garnet Valley Road west of Summerland as an option.
However, that road is not paved and not maintained. One Castanet reader with a 4x4 truck called it "the sketchiest most terrifying drive of my life," and said they blew out a tire and "barely made it through."
A major slide event in the same area on Highway 97 in 2019 saw Penticton Search and Rescue called to rescue eight people in 24 hours who got stuck trying to take that road.
PenSAR said Tuesday they have not had to deploy rescue crews in relation to this latest slide "so far."
Another non-highway route is the 201 Forest Service Road east of Penticton to Highway 33. That road is also not paved and is a logging road that is in poor condition in some sections.
DriveBC says the only approved detour around the slide is via highways 97C, 5A, 3 and 33.
UPDATE: 8:30 a.m.
Highway 97 remains closed this morning north of Summerland.
The area impacted by the rockslide is between Callan Rd and Okanagan Lake Provincial Pk for 1.6 kilometres.
A geotechnical assessment is underway.
DriveBC says the only approved detour around the slide is via highways 97C, 5A, 3 and 33.
Another update from DriveBC is expected around noon.
ORIGINAL: 8:15 a.m.
Castanet is awaiting an update from DriveBC as to the state of Highway 97 between Summerland and Peachland.
The highway was closed Monday afternoon due to a rockslide, and remained closed overnight.
DriveBC was expected to provide an update at 8 a.m. Castanet will have that update as soon as it is available.
DriveBC says the only approved detour around the slide is via highways 97C, 5A, 3 and 33. Forest service roads may not be appropriate for all vehicles.
More to come.
