Rockslide closes part of South Klondike Highway, leaving travellers stranded

An 82-kilometre stretch of the South Klondike Highway from Carcross, Yukon to Fraser, B.C. is closed due to a rockslide.

The slide occurred Tuesday evening and covers both lanes of the highway. Yukon Highways and Public Works released a statement Wednesday evening saying crews have begun clearing the road but it will remain closed until at least Friday, when they aim to reopen to single lane traffic.

"There have been some delays in the progress to reopen the road because the weather conditions and the risk of further slides prevents that," said Antoine Goulet, a communication analyst with Highways and Public Works. 

"There's a lot of rain in the region and there's been a lot of rain lately. So that helps further the risk of further landslides."

The slide left some Yukoners scrambling to find accommodation in Skagway, Alaska on Tuesday night after being stranded by the closure. 

Many cruise ship passengers who arrived in Skagway were left stranded while on a sightseeing tour to Carcross. Five buses filled with passengers heading back to Skagway were forced to turn around due to the rockslide. 

Heike Graf, owner of Caribou Crossing Cafe in Carcross, said that about 200 passengers arrived back in Carcross around 8 p.m. Tuesday night when most businesses were already closed. The visitor centre was the only option for passengers to seek assistance, Graf said.

"They were scared," Graf said. "There was nothing to eat, there was nothing to drink. It was quite a stressful situation."

"The good news is that as of about 4:30 a.m. this morning Alaska time, everyone was back on the ship," Bill Zucker, vice president of public relations with Holland America Cruise Lines, said in a statement to CBC.

Though all passengers have now returned to their cruise ships, Graf said Carcross did not have the capacity to handle hundreds of passengers at that time of night. 

"The decision making from Holland America took some time," said Graf. "So having all these people there, some haven't eaten for hours, there were some diabetics. It was just not an overall good situation."

On Wednesday morning, the Skagway Police Department announced the U.S. border crossing in Skagway had reopened for northbound traffic and tours to the Yukon Suspension Bridge only.

"There is absolutely no traffic allowed past the suspension bridge," 911 dispatcher Aryanna Venegas said. "Our department of transportation reports that the slide was significant and the road will likely be closed besides that bridge …for multiple days."

Four more cruise ships are expected to arrive in Skagway on Wednesday. Yukon Highways and Public Works says it will provide another update at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Graf is enjoying the quiet in Carcross, but she is worried about what will happen to her business if the highway remains closed. 

"If this takes more than three days, then it becomes a critical situation for me," Graf said.