By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle

Hwy. 3 from Hope to East Gate (Manning Park) remains closed and is currently being worked on by maintenance contractor crews continuing emergency repair and restoration work.

The work follows heavy rainfall earlier this week which damaged 23 separate sites – one of them extensively, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit said today.

According to the update earlier today, the current work includes:

  • Slope and culvert repairs;
  • Debris cleanup;
  • Shoulder restoration at multiple locations.

The Ministry said Hwy. 3 will remain closed until repairs are completed and it is safe to restore traffic. “There is no estimated time of reopening at this stage. Work is well underway, and updates will continue to be posted on DriveBC,” it said.

Ministry personnel are said to be closely monitoring weather conditions and will issue additional travel advisories for other highways if required. Drivers are advised to check DriveBC for accurate information before planning any trips on BC highways.

Meanwhile Hwy. 1 in the Abbotsford area remains partially closed with water levels dropping but a new atmospheric river weather system approaching the BC coast on Sunday is expected to bring more rain.

Current Highway Status (according to DriveBC as of 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 13):

Sumas border closed to commercial traffic, local traffic only – Border Services requests non-local traffic avoid Highway 11 / Sumas due to flooding and potential evacuation operations in Washington State.
Highway 1 – Highway 9 to Hope – Open to two way traffic. Eastbound traffic should expect to cross over to the west-bound lanes. Expect speed reductions.
Highway 7 fully REOPENED
Highway 1 – Canyon – Yale to Lytton – REOPENED
Highway 5 (Coquihalla) – Hope to Merritt – REOPENED – following flooding at Sowaqua.
Highway 99 – Mount Currie to Lilooett – REOPENED – Mount Currie to Lilooett
Highway 8 – REOPENED

Hwy. 3 repairs

Crews completing major culvert repairs and road reconstruction.
Ministry of Transportation and Transit photo

Meanwhile on Saturday evening the City of Abbotsford announced it had lifted the alerts issued in Sumas Prairie West and Sumas Prairie East. The city also downgraded evacuation orders to alerts for another 160 properties.

Evacuation orders remain in place for 325 properties throughout Sumas Prairie, according to the city.

Environment Canada issued a Special Weather Statement for the Fraser Valley – west including Abbotsford, with more rainfall in store over the upcoming days for the already saturated Fraser Valley.

The timeline is as follows:

• Minimal precipitation is expected today (Saturday). However, a weather system will move into the area tonight and persist into Sunday;

• On Monday, another system arrives with a more significant push of moisture. Rain will intensify Sunday night and continue most of Monday. Rainfall amounts with this system are more similar to typical fall storms and will likely range from 30 to 60 mm. Strong winds gusting up to 80 km/h will also accompany this system.

BC’s River Forecast Centre is maintaining its Flood Warning for the Sumas River in its last update at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

“Rainfall has eased over the past two days, allowing for a reprieve on additional input to runoff
in the Sumas basin,” the River Forecast Centre said in the update.

“A series of storm events is expected starting later Saturday evening and extending through next week,” it said noting concerns around the “increased vulnerability on the landscape to severe weather given recent rainfall, ground saturation and current flooding.”