The Bombi Pass between Castlegar and Meadows Junction has reopened following a washout that closed that stretch of Highway 3 and the Kootenay Pass between Salmo and Creston is open to single lane traffic.
Matthew Davenport, the quality manager for Yellowhead Road and Bridge, which looks after the Kootenay Pass, said they got word of the slide around 7 p.m. Wednesday about 30 km from Creston, on the east side of the summit, a bit west of Blazed Creek forest service road.
Warm temperatures speeding up the slow met at mid and high elevation resulted in a lot of water coming down quickly, he said. Some debris plugged higher up the mountain let go and formed a new channel that brought logs and mud onto the road. Davenport estimated the slide path to be 25 to 50 meters wide.
This morning a geotechnical crew flew over the site to make sure there were no more debris plugs and workers could operate safely. As of noon today, they started removing debris with a goal of getting one lane open, which was achieved around 5:30 p.m.
Davenport said water is continuing to come down the slope, plugging some culverts, and creating other issues downstream, although they have been able to fix some of them and restore normal flow.
The closure led to two-sailing waits on the Kootenay Lake ferry.