MOTT continues work at Old Fort landslide site

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The province’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MOTT) said efforts to re-establish a two-lane access road in the Old Fort area will begin in the coming days.

The area has been victim to a slow-moving landslide since April 19th, with a statement on DriveBC’s website on Wednesday, May 13th detailing the slide is 400 metres wide, with 150 metres currently “experiencing active movement.”

The ministry began drainage work on the site on Thursday, May 7th. 

Meanwhile, an evacuation order issued by the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) on April 20th remains in effect.

“Work is underway this week to expedite dewatering of the slide mass and reestablish access to the community,” according to a portion of the statement. “We are committed to restoring safe access to the community as quickly as possible.”

Construction of the two-lane access road is scheduled to begin on Friday, May 15th.  It will initially focus on establishing a construction zone and using heavy equipment to move upslope material to an area south of the road.

During construction, all access across the slide area will be prohibited, as there will be no safe access.

Construction of the road is expected to take two weeks. In the meantime, ministry staff are on hand to monitor the site via instrumentation, GPS, and on-field observation.

The ministry says it is actively working with the PRRD and partners through emergency operations centres.