An aerial view of the new four-lane bridge in Cache Creek running underneath. (Photo via BC Government)

The BC Government says preparation work is underway on a new four-lane bridge on Highway 97 in Cache Creek.

The province says Kamloops-based Acres Enterprises will be tasked with building this new $5.4-million bridge which they say will be designed to handle peak river flows and debris, especially during the spring freshet.

“Preparation work…will include the relocation of a watermain in advance of bridge construction,” the province said, in a statement. “During the coming months, construction crews will continue work at the site, such as construction of the bridge and realigning and widening the creek.”

Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta told Radio NL that while residents are pleased to see work get underway on the new bridge, there is still some uncertainly in his community.

“The whole community has been watching for the work, and they’re working on the western half of the bridge project at the present time, but it remains to be seen what is going to happen next spring’s freshet,” Ranta said. “They’re not going to have the bridge finished.”

An artist’s rendering of the new four-lane bridge proposed for Highway 97 in Cache Creek. (Photo via Ministry of Transportation)

The province says the project is expected to be completed in August next year.

“The crew that is working on the bridge is pretty competent,” Ranta added. “I would anticipate that they would have a channel opened up enough so that the work they are doing now doesn’t get wiped out with a substantial flood in the spring of 2024.”

“Normally in Cache Creek, we anticipate flooding from the Bonaparte River but this year, the amount of water that came down Cache Creek was in unprecedented amounts.”

Highway 97 through Cache Creek was closed to all traffic on May 2 because of a massive washout caused by flooding this spring. It reopened to a single lane of traffic two days later on May 4, before reopening to all traffic just ahead of the May long weekend.

The province says the new bridge will be designed to handle peak river flows and debris, especially during the spring freshet.

It will replace the existing culvert on Highway 97 that often gets jammed with debris, a move the province says will “improve the resilience and reliability” of the highway corridor.

“I think the province has now recognized that spending money to restore works to pre-flood conditions or pre-event conditions is just a waste of money, because you have to do it year after year after year,” Ranta told Radio NL in September.

“And so I think there is a greater realization that its important to try and repair things so that you don’t wind up with the same sort of impacts as what you see today.”

For more on the Highway 97 Cache Creek Crossing Restoration Project, go here.