Vehicle traffic has been cut off for residents of a small northern B.C. community after an incident caused damage to the only connecting bridge.
According to a B.C. governemnt release from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the Kispiox Valley Road Bridge is closed indefinitely after a snowplow caused structural damage around 9 a.m. on Thursday morning (Feb. 4) and no detours are available.
The bridge is located 15 km north of Hazelton, or 460 km northwest of Prince George.
The Interior News is reporting the bridge is open to foot traffic, and it could be a week before a more than 230 km detour is available for residents.
"We are currently working on opening up the Mitten FSR as a detour route," said Dawson Roiad Maintenance (DRM) ina Facebook post this morning (Feb. 5).
"DRM’s grader started from the #BCHwy37 side and had cleared about five kilometres of the road as of 7 a.m. this morning. The Kispiox Band has sent a grader in to the road from the Kispiox side. We are waiting for an update on how far they have progressed."
The province says Ministry engineers were on-site through the night assessing the bridge.
For now, drivers that regularly travel near Kispiox, Hazelton and northwest B.C., in general, are encouraged to check DriveBC for more details and information.
