-Ambulance services extends ground, air services to cope with road shutdown-

OSOYOOS TIMES-October 29, 2008-

By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times

A section of Hwy. 97 linking the south and central regions of the Okanagan Valley will remain closed indefinitely amid fears that an unstable hillside could collapse and bury the road.
A portion of the highway between Summerland and Peachland has remained closed since Oct. 24 after it was discovered that a fissure had opened in a cliff 110 metres wide and 150 tall above the road.
Jeff Knight, a spokesman for the provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry, said geo-technical engineers monitoring the cliff observed a 10-millimetre shift of the slope on the night of Oct. 26.
The movement was enough for the engineers to advise the ministry to keep the road closed.
Construction crews have been working on the roadway beneath the cliff since February as part of a $54 million widening project for the highway and travellers have faced scheduled closures as chunks of rock on the hillside adjacent to the road is blasted away.
To make the road four lanes in that section, roughly one million cubic metres of rock and 500,000 cubic metres of soil needs to be excavated, Knight said.
Since the highway serves as a main artery between Penticton and Kelowna and roughly 12,000 vehicles pass through that section daily, motorists and service providers depending on the highway have had to find alternate routes.
Knight said the ministry is recommending that people take Hwy. 33 to the east or highways 3A or 5A to the west.
He added that the ministry has opened the Okanagan Falls Forest Service Road as detour between highways 97 and 3.
Although ministry crews have gone out to grade the road to make it smoother, travellers choosing to take this route should use caution as it is a gravelled road.
In the meantime, the B.C. Ambulance Service is coping with the shutdown by extending its road services to South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen communities along highways 33 and 5A.
Norm Matheson, superintendent for the service's South Okanagan district, said these services would be for those people needing critical care.
He added that the service has dedicated a helicopter to the South Okanagan during daylight hours to transport people to Kelowna General Hospital.
And, the service has a fixed-wing aircraft operating 24-7 to transfer patients between Penticton and Kelowna hospitals.
Matheson also said Osoyoos paramedics have added a second shift to their rotation to provide extra care in the South Okanagan and three additional ambulances are available in the region if needed.
As for other services, gas stations in the Osoyoos area contacted by the Osoyoos Times said they would be affected by the shutdown as their fuel supplies come from the Lower Mainland along Hwy. 3.
Ken Naylor, owner of Osoyoos's Super Valu grocery store, said his suppliers are also based in Vancouver and any items needed from Kelowna would be shipped along the alternate routes.
For information on detours and updates on the road closure, visit www.drivebc.ca
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