The Johnston Loop in Quesnel is being closed due to an ice jam on the Quesnel River.
Fire Chief Ron Richert says the decision was made after a meeting with the City.
“Since Saturday we’ve been monitoring the ice buildup and the backing up of the water on the Johnston Loop, and we made a decision today to close that section of road due to safety reasons due to the ice buildup and also the water is backing up,.”
Richert says traffic will be diverted over the BC Rail line.
He says this is in the same area that is normally closed during the spring freshet.
“It has been years since anything has happened with the ice It’s usually in the spring time with the flooding, it’s the same loop. I believe the last time was back in 2005 when they had some issues with ice in that area.”
Richert says Emergency Management BC has taken steps toward dealing with the ice.
“EMBC has called a water stewardship person to come down and he’s going to do an assessment sometime this week, and at that point he will let us know what is going to happen for the next few weeks.”
Richert says the ice buildup is where the Quesnel River meets the Fraser, although he says it is not the Fraser that is backing up but the Quesnel.