British Columbia

Coquihalla Highway reopens after emergency sinkhole repairs between Hope and Merritt

The Transportation Ministry said the sinkhole appears to be the result of pipeline boring in the area.

Highway was closed most of Saturday for urgent repairs south of the Great Bear Snowshed

Crews work overnight to repair a sinkhole on the Coquihalla Highway south of the Great Bear Snowshed.
Crews work overnight to repair a sinkhole on the Coquihalla Highway south of the Great Bear Snowshed. (Ministry of Transportation and Transit)

The Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) has reopened in both directions between Hope and Merritt after emergency repairs to fix a sinkhole, according to DriveBC.

The major route was closed Saturday morning following the discovery of a sinkhole just south of the Great Bear Snowshed.

The full closure came after a partial closure that began on Thursday due to the sinkhole.

An orange cone is seen next to a sink hole on a road.
B.C.'s Transportation Ministry says its maintenance contractor discovered the sinkhole Thursday evening, which appears to be the result of pipeline boring. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation)

The ministry said its maintenance contractor discovered the sinkhole Thursday evening in the northbound slow lane of the highway, about 80 kilometres south of Merritt.

It said the sinkhole appears to be the result of pipeline boring in the area.

The closure was first reported by DriveBC at around 8:30 p.m. Thursday at a location between the Portia and Zopkios brake check exits, about three kilometres south of the Great Bear Snowshed.

The ministry said as repairs to the northbound lane proceeded Friday morning, it was determined that southbound lanes could also be affected.

Vehicles are seen as they drive along a mountainous road.
Vehicles are seen as they drive along the Coquihalla Highway in January 2022. The highway's northbound and southbound lanes have been closed between Hope and Merritt. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

By Saturday morning, the highway was fully closed between Hope and Merritt. Motorists were advised to divert to either Highway 1 or Highway 3 while crews worked to address the issue.

Photos shared by the Ministry of Transportation show heavy machinery working at the site overnight, with a deep trench visible across the highway.

DriveBC confirmed the highway was fully open again shortly after 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

With files from The Canadian Press