With permanent repairs now complete on Highway 1 at Falls Creek (Jackass Mountain) and Nicomen, the focus is on restoring a grade separation at Tank Hill, 13 kilometres east of Lytton.
The repairs were necessitated by the November 2021 atmospheric river, which caused substantial damage at 18 sites on Highway 1 between Spences Bridge and Hope. Four sites — including Nicomen, Falls Creek, and Tank Hill — required extensive temporary repairs before the highway could fully reopen in January 2022.
Prior to November 2021, Highway 1 passed underneath the CPKC mainline at Tank Hill. The temporary repairs have meant that the highway has been at the same grade as the railway, requiring that traffic be halted in both directions on Highway 1 whenever a train passes through the site.
The new grade separation means that the highway will pass above the rail line, and the elevated crossing will eliminate future delays for motorists.
While work is ongoing at the site, the project team is coordinating with CPKC to reduce traffic delays due to train crossings. However, drivers should expect intermittent single-lane alternating traffic to accommodate the construction of a detour, and occasional closures of 20 to 30 minutes for construction work and to allow trains to cross.
The project is on schedule to be substantially completed by December 2025. During construction, feedback from community members and drivers along the corridor will be incorporated into traffic management, in order to improve communication about delays and their predictability.
The steel girders which will span the rail line are being fabricated in Armstrong, B.C. There are various job opportunities at the site for carpenters, skilled labourers, and heavy equipment operators; anyone interested in finding out more can email Apply@HWY1jobs.com.
In addition to Tank Hill, two other permanent repairs along the corridor are in progress. The community bridge at Nicomen, and the Gladwin culvert 10 kilometres east of Lytton, were both badly damaged in November 2021, and both projects are currently in the design phase.
For more information about these projects, visit the B.C. Highway Flood Recovery Projects: Highway 1 Fraser-Thompson page at https://bit.ly/4chrlqm.
