HWY 3 closure

[LoneWolf_53]

This road closure is turning into a real joke. They won't open the road incase a rock comes down. Rocks have been coming down almost daily in the whole area from Ollala thru to Van. There are signs "Watch for falling rock" everywhere out here.

Yeah I'm sure that there've been rocks the size of a Ford Fusion coming down almost daily.

The thing I see almost daily, well almost hourly actually, is gross exaggerations as to the state of certain things.

The slope is obviously more unstable than usual and that needs to be addressed, especially given that there was already a second slide with rocks up to a meter in diameter, it's really not that hard of a concept to grasp.

It's not as though they are tormenting drivers on purpose.

Patience grasshopper.

[twobits]

I would like to get to Vancouver without going over the Coquihalla right now. Someone suggested that the back road from Summerland to Princeton might be a viable option. I've driven it before but never in Winter. Does anyone know if its plowed and reasonable for travel? I drive a small car; not a 4x4 but have good snow tires. thanks.

Yes it is plowed but is virtually one lane in places, washboard everywhere, and logging truck at a corner roulette. The Aspen Grove suggestion is your best alternative if you don't want to take the coke.
Going the Apex route and down into Hedley would be a better option than Summerland/Princeton.

[driveangry]

Yeah I'm sure that there've been rocks the size of a Ford Fusion coming down almost daily.

The thing I see almost daily, well almost hourly actually, is gross exaggerations as to the state of certain things.

The slope is obviously more unstable than usual and that needs to be addressed, especially given that there was already a second slide with rocks up to a meter in diameter, it's really not that hard of a concept to grasp.

It's not as though they are tormenting drivers on purpose.

Patience grasshopper.

Yes your post is an excellent example of gross exaggeration. No where did I say Ford Fusion size rocks coming down almost daily but you know that,,,, right ?????

The way the Ministry is handling the closure is a joke, but I'm enjoying the quiet, no jake brakes, and the lack of traffic in town is nice.

[LoneWolf_53]

Yeah I'm sure that there've been rocks the size of a Ford Fusion coming down almost daily.

Yes your post is an excellent example of gross exaggeration. No where did I say Ford Fusion size rocks coming down almost daily but you know that,,,, right ?????

So you didn't see the rocks that came down in the initial slide, many of which were the size of a car?

You're the one that said rocks come down all the time, and did it in a thread addressing "this" instance which had some massive stuff come down.

The exaggeration was your implying that such is a regular occurrence when it is not. Those other rocks you refer to would be deemed pebbles compared to what happened here.

Sure some rocks come down regularly, but certainly not such monsters, and that's why they are being more careful.

[ferri]

i searched and found this pic.

[LoneWolf_53]

^^ Exactly, and all one need do is look at a couple of the larger pieces toward the back of the slide, to note something in fact possibly even larger than a Ford Fusion, since I see a Police Chev Tahoe type SUV in the background, and it looks smaller than the biggest rockl

Don't believe I exaggerated at all. It is what it is, and that's precisely why engineers are being careful.

The last thing they want, is to OK the opening of the road, and find out in the next mornings headlines, that someone got killed, after being crushed by one of those behemoths.

[pentona]

Yes it is plowed but is virtually one lane in places, washboard everywhere, and logging truck at a corner roulette. The Aspen Grove suggestion is your best alternative if you don't want to take the coke.
Going the Apex route and down into Hedley would be a better option than Summerland/Princeton.

Thanks for all the info but I never drive the Coke or the connector in wintertime; ever. Made a fast trip to the coast and took the Summerland back road; plowed and sanded; little traffic and wasn't much longer than going the normal way via Keremeos to Princeton. I talked to someone who recently did the Hedley Mine route and it sounded worse. Glad the highway has now reopened. It did surprise me that few media outlets or even the highways dept was promoting the Summerland to Princeton backroad route.

[driveangry]

That picture is a little deceiving. The aerial picture showed the rocks spread out more. There was a couple of rocks about the size of a Smart car.

About 4-5 months back there was a slide very close to this one that blocked 3 lanes, knocked out the power for a couple of hours, started a small fire and took out my phone for 2 weeks. The loader pushed off the rocks and traffic was back to normal by the end of the day.

Approx. 2-3 years back near Standing Rock several boulders came down on the hwy. Same thing, traffic zig zagged between the boulders until the loader pushed them off the road.

This spring a rock the size of a wheel barrel came down about 50 yards from my house, 50 yards over it would have been in my kitchen.

There is a local little body shop that repairs 3-4 vehicles a year damaged from falling rocks. ICBC has written off vehicles in the area damaged from falling rock.

North of Ollala has rock of all sizes coming down.

[LoneWolf_53]

^^ I don't question that at all, no doubt the reason for the falling rock signs.

I just suspect in this instance, due to the larger size of the slide, as well as a small earthquake in the vicinity, they just want to cover their butts and make sure it's safe before they open up the road again.

Not too unlike what happened when they found a big crack in the hillside, back when they were making more lanes between Peachland and Summerland, and they closed the road down for a few days.

That sure caused some people inconvenience. Some were trying to use the 4X4 back road to Naramata.

Hopefully they won't find anything too wrong with the hillside and open the road up again soon. Either that or plant a couple sticks of TNT and call in a couple of graders. LOL


ETA: Road is open again apparently!

[driveangry]

^^ The local coffee shop rumor is that the first report out was that someone was killed because of the slide. So word got out to the "higher ups" who ordered the closure until some engineers check out the situation. When they found out no one was killed it was to late to stop the closure. Everyone involved had to follow proper procedure.

[Bsuds]

^ When they found out no one was killed it was to late to stop the closure.

Yup the rocks all over the road had nothing to do with the closure!

I wouldn't drive through there with my 4x4 truck!

[driveangry]

Yup the rocks all over the road had nothing to do with the closure!

I wouldn't drive through there with my 4x4 truck!

The road was cleared within a few hours and has been driveable ever since.

[Bsuds]

Without knowing more rocks were not going to come down the safe thing to do is wait or go around.
What would you be saying if they let cars go through and one got crushed because they didn't check?
My niece and her 2 small children are waiting for the road to open. She won't drive it till they declare it safe and I don't blame her one bit.

[driveangry]

Road has been open for over an hour. If you would have read some of the previous posts then you would know that rock slides and falling rock is a common occurrence in this area There is no guarantee the road will be safe

[Bsuds]

The occasional rock falling is different than a large slide so all they are doing is making sure more isn't ready to come down right away.

I don't see a problem with being on the safe side.