B.C.'s Highway 8 reopens 361 days after catastrophic flooding forced its closure

Almost one year to the day after an unprecedented storm washed away several kilometres of a key transportation route linking communities in B.C.'s Interior, the vital link has reopened.

When the Nicola River raged last November, fuelled by torrential rains, it destroyed Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge and upended the lives of people living in the area.

Wednesday's announcement by the provincial government that the road has once again reopened to the general public has restored a sense of normal.

“Now I can come up here and see a dentist. I can come up here and see a doctor. I can come here and shop," said Chief Norman Drynock of the Nicomen Indian Band.

The river damaged the road in 32 different places and a total of seven kilometres of two-lane asphalt highway were completely washed away.

Most of the existing repairs are considered temporary but are constructed to a higher safety standard than the original road, which was built in 1953.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said the construction was done in consultation with the affected communities, and in partnership with Indigenous contractors.

“(It was done) using a combination of traditional engineering knowledge and traditional knowledge from Indigenous communities -- to do it right with knowledge of millennia of living along the river," Fleming said.

Two temporary single-lane bridges have been installed as temporary measures.

There is no concrete timeline or cost estimate for the permanent repairs but Fleming said it is his hope that the federal government will cover up to 70 percent of the bill.

"I do want to stress that the highway remains an active construction zone, so while it is open to the public people need to bear that in mind," Fleming said.

Highway 8 is the only route connecting several First Nations communities in the area and the lack of access over the last year forced many people from their homes for extended periods.

“Displacement is something that Indigenous people are very familiar with, from the point of European contact, through residential schools, to COVID and natural disasters – just to name a few," said Chief Christine Minnaberriet of the Cooks Ferry Indian Band. "You could call us experts but that doesn’t mean it gets any easier.”

Drivers who do not live in the communities along the route will not be allowed to use Highway 8 as a detour if Highway 1 or Highway 5 closes, the province added.

A video on the ministry's YouTube Channel shows a side-by-side comparison of the highway as it was in November of 2021 and as it is in November of 2022.

 

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Similar work is being done to restore the Trans-Canada and Coquihalla highways in areas damaged by the same storm

The total cost of repairs to all BC highways impacted by the historic weather event is estimated to be $1 billion.