The General Manager for the maintenance contractor on the Coquihalla says it was a challenging weekend with snow and plummeting temperatures.

However, speaking on NL Newsday, Dave Duncan says Yellowhead Road and Bridge crews were able to keep up with whatever Mother Nature threw at them on the highways.

“We had about 30 to 40 cm over the weekend and then combined with that, we got that sort of deep freeze starting to settle in” he said. “We kept up. We were actually able to keep the chain up lights off on the Coquihalla which was nice. ”

Duncan says he is especially proud because there were no closures on the Coquihalla in their service area directly due to the weather.

“[There however was one closure on Sunday] further south of our area, just sort of down below the snowshed hill, there was a truck crash that caused a closure,” Duncan noted.

He admits the most challenging area for his crews was actually on Highway 1 near Jackass Mountain, south of Lytton, because of snow and slippery conditions. Duncan though tells NL News that crews in other areas had it worse.

“I think further south, close to Hope, and then between Hope and Chilliwack there was some pretty substantial wet, icy snow,” he said.

“You know, when we get the fluffier stuff up here in the Interior, they get those wet, icy conditions and that I think caused a lot of challenges for drivers on Highway 1 and then on the Lower stretches of the Coquihalla as well.”‘

He’s urging drivers to check Drive BC for the latest road conditions, and to always drive according to the conditions when out on the highway in the winter months.