Northern BC hit with SEVERE flooding - many roads closed

[PanEuropean]

Hello All:

The areas around Dawson Creek (mile 0 of the Alaska Highway), Fort St. John, Chetwynd, and Grande Prairie Alberta have been hit with severe flooding over the past 4 days.

Highway 97 is closed 13 miles south of Chetwynd and is not expected to re-open for another month. It is impossible to get to Dawson Creek (start of the Alaska Highway) from southern BC, you can only get to Dawson Creek via Alberta.

Here is a link to the BC Government website showing some photos of the road washouts: Peace Area Flooding June 2016

A couple of riders I met in Dawson Creek who had come south along the Alaska Highway told me that the Alaska Highway itself was in very rough shape for about 100 miles north of Dawson Creek to Dawson Creek itself.

So, if you plan any riding in this area this summer, including riding the Alaska highway, check the road conditions for road closures before you leave. I'm now stuck in Chetwynd and have to make a 350 km backtrack to get to where I am going.

Michael

[brclarke]

Thanks for the update - I had not heard they were getting such heavy rains up that way....

[Tony LEE]

Either flood or major landslides - either way those routes usually end up closed for days or weeks every year.

[PanEuropean]

Originally Posted by brclarke

Thanks for the update - I had not heard they were getting such heavy rains up that way...

110 mm of rain in 2 days.

Worst part of the story is that I waited 2 days in Grande Prairie for the rain to stop, just so I could ride down Highway 97. The rain stopped, I got to Chetwynd (where I am now), only to find out that in order to get to Sidney - my final destination - I have to backtrack through Grande Prairie and take a 350 km detour through Jasper, Alberta.

Some days are diamonds, and some days are stones...

Michael

[brclarke]

If the weather is good, ride the parkway between Jasper and Banff. Some spectacular scenery that way...