A small portion of the Mabel Lake Forest Service Road east of Mabel Lake will be temporarily closed to all vehicle traffic until further notice, due to concerns about the stability of the roadbed in the area and the need to ensure public safety.

Effective at 7 a.m. on April 28, 2017, no vehicles will be allowed on a 100-metre stretch of the road, starting at about the 11.5-kilometre mark.

Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations engineering staff have determined that soil in the area has become heavily saturated with water and that slumping of the roadbed has occurred, which has prompted the closure.

The road will be barricaded at the 11-kilometre mark. “Road Closed” signs will also be posted at the 11-kilometre mark, the 15-kilometre mark and the junction with the Three Valley Mabel Forest Service Road (also known locally as the Wap Forest Service Road) to notify road users.

The closed section is about one kilometre north of the main entrance to Mabel Lake Provincial Park, so public access to the park from the south will not be affected. Access to the northern portions of the road will also remain unaffected.

The road will be reopened once the roadbed has been repaired. The construction timeline has not yet been determined.