4:15 UPDATE :

The Coquihalla Highway is open again.

DriveBC says the route between Hope and Merritt reopened in both directions just before 4 p.m., restoring one of the province’s primary links to the Interior.

Several other key corridors, however, remain closed. Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton is still shut down, and Highway 1 eastbound at Bridal Falls remains blocked by a mudslide. Engineers report that water is still flowing over the slide debris, making it unsafe to begin clearing efforts.

According to the Transportation Ministry, early inspections show no major damage from the atmospheric river—nothing comparable to the widespread destruction seen in 2021. Crews working on Highway 3 continue to face limited access due to weather, but sections examined so far show only minor impacts.

Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon is open, and Highway 99 from Mount Currie to Lillooet reopened this morning, though winter conditions persist in the area. Highway 7 near Agassiz remains single-lane alternating due to an earlier rockfall.

Rainfall totals peaked at 140 millimetres in Hope.

Drivers are urged to check DriveBC for the latest conditions.

ORIGINAL: Travel between the Interior and the Lower Mainland is closed along all four routes which allow access between the two regions.

“The Ministry of Transportation and Transit has closed major highways between the Lower Mainland and the Interior due to flooding, falling rock and debris, and high avalanche hazards,” revealed the BC government as of approximately 9:30 Wednesday evening.

This includes the shutdown of the Coquihalla, the TransCanada, Highway 3 from Princeton to Hope, as well as the far-less travelled route through Lillooet via the Sea-to-Sky corridor.

The BC government says there are no timelines for when the routes may reopen.

This same system is also wreaking havoc across the border in Washington State, where numerous roads have also been cut off, meaning a US-based work-around is also unlikely for the time being.

It comes as a major storm continues to pound many parts of BC, including the eastern Fraser Valley, where forecasts have warned of over 100-millimetres of rain through Wednesday into Thursday.

The closures include:

• Highway 1 closed between Hope and Lytton
• Highway 3 closed between Hope and Princeton
• Highway 5 closed between Hope and Merritt
• Highway 1 eastbound closed at Highway 9
• Highway 7 is closed west of Hope (between Highway 9 and Ross Road)
• Highway 11 at the Sumas border crossing is closed to commercial traffic, open to local traffic only
• Highway 99 is closed between Mt. Currie and Lillooet

“Drivers are cautioned that other provincial roadways could be closed with little or no notice,” added the BC government in its notification.  “Ministry staff and maintenance contractors continue to patrol highways to identify areas of concern.”

While the roadways are shut down, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit says it is keeping close watch on the situation, as are contract crews with firms such as Yellowhead Road & Bridge which maintains the Coquihalla.

“Contractors are on standby to clear debris and reopen highways as soon as it is safe to do so,” added the Province.  “Drivers are advised to travel only if necessary.”

The last time the Interior was shut down like this was the 2021 atmospheric rivers which wreaked havoc on the roadways, shutting down the Coquihalla and all the other major routes in and out of the Interior over the course of several days during those events, which hit in succession.

This storm — while bringing heavy rains to the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland, is not hitting the southern Interior in the same way it did four years ago.

The BC government says updates will be available here at DriveBC.