The City of Williams Lake has put out a release saying that the River Valleys targeted open will be spring 2023.
The River Valley closure covers Comer Street access to Fraser River, as work continues due to the unprecedented flooding back in spring of 2020. The flood destroyed natural areas and habitat, with the waters heavily impacting the River Valley road and City infrastructure. All that totaled millions of dollars in damages.
Work is currently being done to replace 14 bridges that were destroyed or damaged during the flood. Due to the construction, heavy equipment will be moving back and forth along the road, which makes it unsafe for public use.
The release says that the City is focused on getting the necessary repair work done as quickly as possible, with clean up and early repairs with major bridge works starting back in fall of 2021.
As of now, 3 bridges south of Comer Street have been completed, along with much of the repairs of the 14 bridges have been finished.
“Even though it might appear that there is nobody actively on site, our contractor is working hard and could be mobilizing heavy equipment on that road, basically anytime, whether is during the week or even on weekends as well.” says Jeff Bernardy, Senior Engineering Technologist with the City of Williams Lake.
The reopening depends on how smoothly the remainder of the construction goes.