Sea to Sky Highway reopens after accident
Last Updated: Sunday, October 11, 2009 | 6:03 PM PT
CBC News
Travellers were stuck in traffic for hours Sunday after an accident closed the Sea to Sky Highway. (CBC)The Sea to Sky Highway was closed to traffic in both directions for several hours after a fatal accident Sunday morning.
Reports indicate the accident occurred at approximately 10 a.m. PT just north of Eagle Bluffs.
Police have not released the age, gender or identity of the victim.
Caroline Arbour, a reporter with Radio-Canada, was driving on the highway when the accident happened.
"Suddenly everything stopped, and we got out of the vehicle and walked a little bit to see what was going on, and then a couple of kilometres beyond we saw some fire trucks," she said.
"Some people were driving back, turning around actually, and told us that there'd been a car accident."
The Sea to Sky Highway, the primary route between Vancouver and 2010 Olympic sites in Whistler, recently underwent significant upgrades in advance of the Games.
The highway was expanded in many areas, but remains a two-lane highway in some places.
Kitty Heller, who was stuck in her car waiting for the highway to reopen, said the upgrades aren't enough.
"It's completely crippled the highway, and all they would have to do is put some U-turns on the medians between the two lanes.… This way, we're totally paralyzed," she said.
The Sea to Sky Highway, or Highway 99, was closed for five days in August 2008 after a rockslide blocked the highway.
That incident sparked concerns the Olympics could be negatively affected if something were to force the closure of the highway during the Games, and Heller said those concerns are very real.
"Is one accident going to kill the Olympics?" she wondered.
