Highway 1 west of Revelstoke, B.C., could be closed all weekend

A washout on Highway 1 will see the route from Revelstoke to Sicamous severed until at least Saturdayand possibly for the entire weekend.

Cpl. Thomas Blakneysays the Thursday night washoutdumped two metres of mud on the road at Camp Creek, 25 kilometres west of Revelstoke.

"The creek was flowing at a fast rate and then overfilled and began to spill onto the Trans-Canada Highway, rendering the bridge and the roadway inoperable," he said."It's something I haven't seen on the Trans-Canada in many years."

Blakneysays traffic toSicamousis now being re-routed south via Highway 23, then across Arrow Lake via ferry twice and then north via Highway 6 and 97A.

"In order to go fromRevelstoketoSicamous, you're talking driving time of 45 minutes. If you need to go the Highway 6 route, it's closer to five hours."

The provincial Ministry of Transportation said in a Friday release that the timeline for reopeningdepends on whether or not the bridge is damaged: if it is, the road may not reopen until Sunday or even later.

The ministry says the Highway 23inland ferrieswill run24 hours a day until the road closure is resolved, but motorists are advised to expect long waits.

It advises anyone travelling to or from Alberta to use highways 3 or 5 as an alternate route.

Also problems nearGolden

DriveBCis also reporting a Highway 1 closurewestbound from Golden, with only local traffic getting through.

Blakney says that closure is being caused by the Revelstoke closure and the aftermath of a fatal Thursday evening collision.

Local hotel owner Julie Whiteway says she and other hoteliers are now so booked with stranded Albertansand others heading west that they're turning people away.

"We have 81 rooms here. None left," she said. "Some people drove back to Calgary last night. There's people trying to get to Kelownafor a graduation today.

"Let's just say there'll be lots of coffee for my housekeeping staff and maybe pizza for lunch."