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Province expects delays to be minimal during reconstruction of Highway 8

Paul James
Mar 20, 2024 | 3:47 PM


Province expects delays to be minimal during reconstruction of Highway 8

The temporary reconstruction of Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge/via MOTI

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is suggesting it’s going to try to keep local disruptions to a minimum as it starts the years-long process of rebuilding Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge.

Project Executive Director Jennifer Fraser does say their work is going to involve a lot of challenges, including moving a section of the Highway permanently to the other side of the river at one section north of Clapperton Ranch.

This is where a temporary detour has already been established.

“Part of it does involve moving the highway from one side of the [Nicola] River, which is where it was originally before the [atmospheric river] event, to the other side of the river, which is where the highway is temporarily located right now,” noted Fraser on the NL Noon Report.  “That also involves the construction of two bridges.”

Fraser says that section of reconstruction is likely going to be the biggest part of the rebuild, given the damage that was done in November, 2021.

“[The] height of mountain beside the highway [is what] allowed us not to be able to reconstruct the highway where it was,” noted Fraser.  “We’re fortunate in other locations, closer to Shacken, where we were able to reconstruct the highway where it was before.”

Temporary bridge built over the Nicola River along Highway 8/via MOTI

Fraser says while there may be some short-term closures of Highway 8 as they move large pieces of infrastructure into the area to rebuild the bridges, she says they hope to keep the disruption to local traffic minimal.

“What we anticipate is that the highway will remain fully open,” said Fraser.  “There may be small delays, just like there are in any construction zone, but that those will be kept to as short a time as possible.”

The current bidding process for the contract to reconstruct the Highway is expected to be finished by August, with design work to start after that.

Fraser says they expect the rebuild of Highway 8 to be a 2 to 3 year project overall — a cost for which has yet to be finalized.