Callan Road open Monday

Photo: Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

UPDATE: 3:15 p.m.

A bypass around Highway 97 will officially be open Monday morning at 5 a.m. 

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said a bypass on Callan Road will be open on Monday morning allowing drivers to get to and from Kelowna and Penticton.

A 900-metre detour was created to accommodate both light vehicles and commercial vehicles, with a speed limit along the route of 30 km/h. 

“Drivers are reminded they should have good winter tires, obey the speed limit and drive with caution,” said MoTI. 

There will be occasional and periodic stoppages in the detour to allow for blasting work.

Stoppages will not occur between the hours of 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Commercial vehicles that exceed 3.8 metres in width are only permitted on the detour between midnight and 5 a.m. Pedestrians and cyclists will not be permitted on the detour.

Work was done to create the detour involved building a two-lane connection from Callan Road to Highway 97 on the south side of the slide and widening of the existing intersection on the north side to allow for commercial vehicle use. 

Crews will continue to work on the slope above Highway 97 and geotechnical assessments will continue. 

“Ministry staff will continue to work as hard as possible to have the highway reopened to traffic as soon as it is safe to do so,” said MoTI.

Now that Callan Road will be open, the alternative routes through forest service roads are no longer necessary and maintenance of these routes will not continue.

ORIGINAL: 2 p.m.

Many residents are anxiously waiting to hear when a bypass for Highway 97 will be open. 

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told Castanet News Friday that work is underway to make Callan Road a two-lane detour.

Highway 97 has been closed for over a week after boulders and debris crashed onto the road during a rockslide on Feb. 2. 

“Many are understandably asking how the work is going on the Callan Road bypass of the rockslide on Highway 97,” said MLA Dan Ashton. “I can say that the contractors and MoTI staff continue to aggressively work on this project literally around the clock.”

On Friday, Ministry staff said they didn’t have an exact day for when the bypass would be ready, but said they would try to give us a date by Sunday. 

Deputy director for the Southern Interior Region Paula Cousins said by Sunday they’ll have a “better sense of when we can expect to have that section open.”

Ministry staff confirmed Sunday that they will provide an update on the progress of Callan Road this afternoon.

“My thanks again to the many people working in adverse conditions on this bypass route,” said Ashton.