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Highway 16 reopens after 30 hours of flood repair work

Highway 16 was closed yesterday morning (July 2) due to flooding. It reopened today. | Parks Canada photo Fuchsia Dragon | publisher@fitzhugh.
Highway 16 was closed yesterday morning (July 2) due to flooding. It reopened today. | Parks Canada photo

Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]

Highway 16, the Yellowhead Highway, reopened to single lane alternating traffic this morning after emergency repair work over the last 30 hours.

Part of the highway was closed July 2 after extreme flooding significantly damaged the roadway.

Jasper and Jasper National Park have seen persistent rain over the last two weeks and since Wednesday, July 1, Jasper has seen more than 50 millimetres of rain.

That combined with a late snow melt has resulted in rivers, lake and streams continuing to swell.

The highway was reduced to one lane from the East Gate to about 10 kilometres east of Jasper yesterday morning, then completely closed at 12:30 p.m. to allow for repair work.

It reopened this morning (July 3) to single-lane alternating traffic, with vehicles stretching back to the Jasper townsite and delays of two to three hours.

Parks Canada said road repairs are still in progress and work will continue over the next few days with safety of the travelling public and our crews in mind.

Travellers and visitors should continue to expect delays until all the remediation work is completed and check  before travelling.

The Jasper townsite was also hit with minor flooding.

Cabin Creek Drive, near Reservoir Road, was closed to traffic in both directions this morning to allow municipal workers access to a blocked culvert that was causing the creek to overflow onto the roadway. It was cleared by 2 p.m.

Because of high water levels in the creek, the culvert is operating at 100 per cent capacity. Municipal workers are monitoring the creek and, if necessary, will use pumps to bypass the culvert.

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