Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone has released the following statement today on the partial re-opening of Highway 99, 17 kilometres east of Lillooet:

“Ministry engineers, construction crews and staff continue to make progress to assess the stability of the road surface and I’m pleased to announce that the road is now open to single-lane alternating traffic. Light vehicles, school buses and emergency vehicles will now be able to travel from either side of the slide area to Lillooet. However, commercial truck access will only be permitted at 50% legal axle loading until ministry geotechnical engineers further assess the stability of the road surface.

“The ministry and the Xaxli’p First Nation are working closely together regarding the situation and continue to make safety the top priority. Yesterday, crews re-graded the section of road and rebuilt the travelling surface. This road surface will allow weight-restricted single-lane alternating traffic to pass until such time that both lanes can be re-opened to all vehicle and commercial traffic.

“Re-opening this stretch has been a priority for me and my ministry and I’d like to acknowledge the importance of the route to the Xaxli’p and other First Nation communities in the area and their economy. On Friday, Jackie Tegart, MLA for Fraser-Nicola, and I will be touring the site with the mayor of Lillooet, First Nations and local officials to look at challenges associated, and long-term solutions for the technically complex Ten Mile Slide. I look forward to those discussions moving forward.”