Dear Editor:

My husband and I were driving home to Osoyoos after a visit to Vancouver recently.

We met friends in Hope for lunch. We stayed in Hope until 2:10 p.m. at which time we took Highway 3 home. We didn’t find out about the road closure because of a rock slide until we stopped in Princeton.

We were then forced to drive to Highway 5A. This was taking place at 3:30 p.m. just as light was starting to turn to dusk.

This road I am sure is great in the summer, but has the worst “S” curving route for two-lane traffic that I have travelled in this province. We made it to Highway 97C, which was very foggy, and then onto Highway 97 to get back to Osoyoos.

While passing the Highway 3A turnoff at Kaledan, I noticed a sign advising people about the rock slide and closure of the highway. We finally arrived home in Osoyoos at 8 p.m. The next day I phoned the highway ministry in Victoria and was put in touch with the person who manages this route.

The area manager was very nice to call me back. I asked him why a sign was not posed at the junction of Highway 3 and 5 just outside of Hope.

We had taken this turnoff 90 minutes after the rock slide took place.

No one wants to drive Highway 5A, especially seniors.

He advised us that no one had complained and that the overhead notice signs by the weight scale before Hope would have advised us about what had taken place.

Well we went through prior to the rock slide and there was nothing posted.

He did say he would fix the problem should a similar occurrence take place in the future.

I have since talked to other people, including one person who came through the weigh scale at 3 p.m. and it only had a sign relating to road conditions and nothing about the road closure due to the rock slide. They were advised by a relative in Chilliwack.

Another friend told me they were stopped for over an hour in the same area as the rock slide. It would appear someone knew something about this much earlier.

I do hope the area manager has a sign in place the next time a similar problems develops. We see the portable/very large signs used all the time.

Mary Wold

Osoyoos, B.C.