VANCOUVER — Travel between British Columbia's south coast and the Interior was at a standstill after freezing rain and heavy snow closed every major highway early Friday morning.
Many travellers spent a frigid night trapped on Highway 5, the Coquihalla Highway, when that busy route was shut down by icy conditions and several collisions.
Highway 1 from Yale to Lytton and through Glacier National Park is also closed by a high avalanche hazard, while the same risk severed Highway 3 east of Hope overnight, as well as Highway 99 from Pemberton to Lillooet.
DriveBC, the Ministry of Highways online route planning tool, reported Highway 3 east of Hope had reopened by dawn, but the highway remains blocked until further notice in southeastern B.C., from the Fernie area to the Alberta boundary.
The problems follow a severe storm that swept across the south half of the province on Thursday, prompting an Avalanche Canada advisory urging backcountry users to avoid heading out this weekend, or to ensure they have advanced avalanche training and equipment.
BC Hydro has made good progress restoring power to tens of thousands of blacked-out customers, but the utility is still reporting almost 6,000 customers are without electricity around Metro Vancouver, and about 3,000 are in the dark on Vancouver Island.
