Coquihalla -Starting this week, the BC Ministry of transportation will be restricting commercial vehicles from using the far left lane on the Coquihalla’s Snowshed Hill between Box Canyon and Zopkios with the No Trucks in the Left Lane pilot program (other select routes in the Interior to possibly follow).
35 extended closures that happened on the Coquihalla last year, 33 involved commercial vehicles.
All photos courtesy Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure:
The Coquihalla Highway is one of the province’s busiest mountain passes. Both passenger and commercial vehicles rely on it as a primary connection between the Lower Mainland and the Interior.Snowfall exceeding 10 cm per hour is not uncommon.
To allow plows and other emergency vehicles easier access, trucks are required to stay in the right hand lane. The Coquihalla is a divided highway, snow plows often get caught in the traffic queue behind the blockage, restricted by roadside barriers and unable to turn around. So, snow continues to fall, unplowed, until the blockage is cleared.
On Phase 1, between Hope and Merritt, the snow is heavy and wet, creating tricky road conditions for trucks, even with minor accumulations on the road surface. Over the past couple of winter seasons, commercial vehicles on the Coquihalla have been spinning out in climbing sections more frequently during storms. In fact, last winter, 33 of 35 extended closures on the Coquihalla during last winter involved commercial vehicles. At times this meant commercial vehicles were blocking the highway until they could either be towed away, or equipped with chains (which they should have already had on their vehicles).
The Ministry also recently constructed and opened the Box Canyon Chain Up area (located on the Coquihalla, before Snowshed Hill). The facility can hold up to 70 commercial vehicles at a time and can also accommodate oversized loads as well.
