The City has issued an apology for backing up traffic along Highway 97 North during the Thursday morning commute.
The southbound lane at Northwood Pulpmill Road was closed at about 7:30 a.m. to carry out work on manholes, catch basins, and water valves prior to a paving project the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has scheduled for June.
However, there has also been a City paving project along Foothills Boulevard this week and the combination led to a long lineup of traffic.
"Once we noticed the significant effects on traffic travelling southbound on Highway 97, we removed the lane closure," City public works director Gina Layte Liston said. "Unfortunately, even though the lane closure was removed within the hour, it still took some time for traffic to return to normal and we apologize for the inconvenience that motorists experienced."
City work that remains on Highway 97 will continue but during off-peak times, including the night shift, starting Sunday evening.
At various times next week, portions of the Highway between 5th Avenue and Chief Lake Road will experience single-lane traffic in preparation for repaving.
Foothills was scheduled to reopen this morning.
