Highway 97 rock slide blasting planned through May, road won’t fully reopen for several months
Work is ongoing to ensure the slope along Highway 97 where a major rockslide occurred last summer is safe.
Blasting at the site of the August 28 rockslide north of Summerland has been ongoing periodically since the debris came down on the highway, though the final phases of that work is scheduled to be completed soon.
“Over the winter and spring, crews have been working hard out there in some not-so-great conditions, blasting out rock material and removing material. To date, we’ve removed approximately 42,000 cubic metres [of material], and we’re still targeting around the 60,000 cubic metre mark to remove from the overall mass,” Steve Sirett, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s executive director for the Southern Interior, told Vernon Matters.
“We expect that most of that blasting will be complete by the end of May and only a few more longer closures are required for that.”