The Ministry of Transportation has imposed a ban on tractor-trailers pulling extraordinary loads along Highway 5 and Highway 16 East.
The change won't affect any regular transport vehicles or trucks carrying goods or groceries, Ministry of Transportation spokesman Ryan Jabs said.
Rather, tractor-trailers hauling heavy industrial equipment will be most affected. Jabs said they're quite large, slower and can take up more than one lane.
"So the ministry has decided to temporarily not issue permits for them to not add to the congestion on the highways," Jabs said.
About 30 of them typically use the route over a week or two.
With Highway 97 closed to southbound traffic 15 kilometres south of Quesnel due to the forest fires, Highway 5 remains the only route within the province linking the northern region to the rest of B.C.
The ban applies to Highway 5 from Kamloops north and on Highway 16 from the junction with Highway 5 to the B.C.-Alberta border.
"Emergency" extraordinary loads will still be allowed.
Also, all recreation sites and trails in the Cariboo Fire Centre were closed Wednesday.
"Recreationalists are encouraged to avoid travelling in the backcountry in areas of active wildfires or where the fire danger rating is high to extreme," the B.C. Wildfire Service said.
"Given the current fire danger ratings and number of active wildfires, further restrictions may be considered if people do not stay out of the backcountry."
