B.C. road report: Which highways are open now, and what is essential travel?

Nov. 22 update: A section of Highway 3 has been closed due to a washout between Hope and Princeton. Latest info on that closure here.

VANCOUVER -- Another B.C. highway has partially reopened days after a deadly storm swept through the province, bringing mud and debris crashing down from the mountains.

The province announced Saturday evening that a section of Highway 1, which was closed suddenly due to severe flooding and resulted in vehicles being abandoned, has reopened. Another section reopened Monday.

Drivers can now use a stretch of the Trans Canada between Hope and Highway 9, east of Chilliwack. However, only a single lane is open in each direction, so delays and congestion are likely, and speed limits will be reduced as in other construction sites.

Additionally, a section and between Highway 11 and Cole Road is open in one lane in each direction, but only for emergency access to agricultural operations.

Those who do pass through the area will notice crews working to remove debris and repair the road surface.

As with other reopenings – parts of highways 99, 7 and 3 – drivers on Highway 1 between Chilliwack and Hope are asked to limit travel to essential purposes.

Checkpoints have been set up on highways the provincial travel restrictions order applies to, and drivers are warned they may be turned around. Members of the RCMP are onsite.

As for what counts as essential travel, a list posted by the province summarizes the reasons as follows:

• transporting goods, essential supplies, essential personnel, livestock and agricultural products;
• returning to your home or farm;
• responding to emergencies;
• highway repair and maintenance;
• assisting vulnerable or at-risk people; and
• exercising an Aboriginal or treaty right.

Taking a vacation, visiting friends or family, checking on a recreational property and other reasons do not count as essential.