On December 9, the British Columbia government issued an update on highway closures, restrictions and repairs after the significant damage from floods and landslides in the province last month and what travel options people should expect during this holiday season in British Columbia . Currently, the roads between the Lower Mainland and inland are not expected to open to non-essential traffic until the New Year.
More details:
- Autobahn 7: Basic travel restrictions on Highway 7 were lifted earlier this week, and most of the commercial vehicles using Highway 7 have moved to Highway 1 since it reopened last week.
- Coquihalla Highway: Based on exceptional progress so far, and if favorable weather allows crews to maintain this pace, the Coquihalla motorway could reopen to critical vehicles in early January 2022.
- Autobahn 3: Highway 3 will only be restricted to necessary traffic until the Coquihalla can be reopened to commercial traffic with temporary repairs.
- Autobahn 1: Highway 1 through Fraser Canyon is slated to reopen in mid-January.
- Highway 99:Highway 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet will continue to be restricted to essential vehicles no larger than a cube.
Alternative travel options from the Lower Mainland inland:
- Air travel is about to expand as airlines work to expand inland capacities from Vancouver and Abbotsford.
- A change to the travel regulations for Highway 3 has been made to accommodate intercity bus service, which is now legal for non-essential travel.
- There are options for bus transportation from the Lower Mainland to Kelowna and Kamloops through companies such as Ebus, Driver expressand Mountain Man Mike bus service.
To help the industry with winter travel issues under the latest entry regulations and road closures, Destination BC has a new one Travel guide for the winter. The document contains essential messages, information, and infographics, as well as resources for the BC tourism industry regarding traveling to and within BC this winter. Topics include travel routes, travel planning, transportation, visitor service, health logs, entry requirements, and proof of compulsory vaccination for various activities and businesses. The document will be updated if necessary as the situation evolves.
An additional Resident Winter Travel and Recreation Toolkit was developed by several industry associations and marketing partners as an operator’s guide to share with visitors planning to travel to British Columbia this winter.
