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Highway 20 rebuild of road base underway in Williams Lake

Final asphalt paving anticipated to take place by the Labour Day weekend

Crews are now working to repair a section of Highway 20 in Williams Lake damaged by ground movement from the historic Hodgson slide.

The repairs include rebuilding of the road base with the final asphalt paving anticipated to take place by the Labour Day Weekend, a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure spokesperson told the Tribune late Wednesday.

“This work will ensure a safe road surface while investigation and options evaluation is underway for the broader slide impacts to the highway.”

Earlier in June, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told the Tribune the repairs would begin later in the summer, provided slide movement slowed as anticipated.

READ MORE: Highway 20, Dog Creek Road repairs won’t be completed until later this summer

During the city’s committee of the whole meeting Tuesday, Aug. 24, Coun. Scott Nelson publicly thanked the ministry for doing the work.

Soda-Creek Macalister Road

The MoTI also provided an update on the Soda-Creek Macalister Road which remains closed due to slide activity.Since the closure residents on either side of the closure are taking different roads to access Highway 97.

The landslide that occurred in 2020, approximately 45 kilometres north of Williams Lake, remains active and the road is unsafe for public travel through the slide area, a MoTI spokesperson noted.

“The ministry has created a project team of geotechnical, engineering and construction experts to address the damaged section of the road. A geotechnical engineering team visited the site again in mid July to re-examine the conditions.”

Over the next few months, the team will continue technical work to inform preliminary solutions, which the ministry said it will share with impacted residents.

Additionally, the ministry said geotechnical investigations are ongoing, including aerial LiDAR surveys and ground movement monitoring.



news@wltribune.com

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Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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