Highway 97 closed for two hours Monday

Highway 97 north of Summerland will be closed briefly on Oct. 30. The Ministry of Transportation is closing the highway in both directions between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday as it continues work to stabilize the rock wall by the highway. The Ministry is blasting away rock to prevent...

Highway 97 north of Summerland will be closed briefly on Oct. 30.

The Ministry of Transportation is closing the highway in both directions between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday as it continues work to stabilize the rock wall by the highway.

The Ministry is blasting away rock to prevent rockslides like the one that closed the highway for several weeks in September.

Rock blasting began on Oct. 24, when crews removed 250 cubic metres of ‘slide material’. The ministry’s goal is to remove a total of 950 cubic metres of rock.

Once the rock has been removed the ministry will use bolts and anchors to secure the area to help prevent future rockslides.

Blasting at night is dangerous, so the ministry has to do this work during daylight hours. It assures the public it will schedule blasting to cause as little disruption as possible.

More closures for blasting will be coming this fall. The ministry will provide details about blasting closer to the closures.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.