BC Highway & Road Conditions Update - December 7 2021

Naturally one of the most important pieces of our business is the ability to navigate the highways. This has been highlighted with the recent storms in British Columbia that have closed our most optimal routes for the interim. 

Please know that there may actually be some minor delays. We may have to come up with a different route to get your vehicle to you if the highway is shut down while we’re on our way. Whatever the case may be you can rest assured that no matter the circumstances that may arise during your transport you’ve got a 5 star team on your side.

One thing you need to know about Team Blackshark is that it is composed of some of the most innovative people I know. As far as being flexible and coming up with different solutions to get the job done, there is no better team of people you could wish for handling your exotic vehicle transport. It goes without saying there are a few things we’re dealing with that are well out of our control, however we wanted to let you in on our plan and how we are dealing with these ever changing road closures.

Our main transport route from Alberta to British Columbia remains generally unaffected until Kamloops, which happens to be our home base. The good news here is that if there is a major change or a closure in the highways mid transport, your vehicle will have a safe dry home in our in-door storage facility until we can find a route that will allow our Exotic Vehicle Escorts to safely deliver your car. 

The following is a short overview of the highway events we are following and links to some of the resources we like to use to keep updated on the realtime highway conditions in BC. You’re welcome!

Highway 1 - Kamloops to Alberta

There is a major construction project happening to the highway all the way from Kamloops to the Alberta border, the only part of it that is currently affecting our transport routes is the Kicking Horse Canyon Project near Golden BC. We are excited for the completion of this project as it will make the route a lot safer and help us deliver your goods between BC and Alberta more quickly. For now, if we’re headed to Calgary Alberta, this major project can sometimes force us to detour on Highway 95 through Radium, which adds a couple hours to our route. Our team is excellent at being in touch with our clients and letting them know when to expect their delivery or if there will be delays.

Highway 1 & 5 - Kamloops to Hope

Normally when we head to the Lower Mainland, the Greater Vancouver area in British Columbia we take Highway 5 from Kamloops all the way to Vancouver. It is the most direct route to Vancouver where a lot of our clients are located, so it was quite a blow when the road was closed in November. It is not uncommon for bad weather and accidents to occasionally close Highway 5. Usually our alternative route is Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway, that takes us from Kamloops through to Hope, British Columia. This route is a couple hours longer than speedy Highway 5, the Coquihalla, but allows us an alternative in the event we need it. However it too, sustained major damage during the recent storms closing it for the foreseeable future. Recently government officials have indicated their optimism that our first choice, Highway 5 could possibly be back open for business late January 2022 which is sweet music to our ears.

Highway 3

There are travel advisories and restrictions in effect for highway 3 from Princeton to Hope. This route is currently open to essential travel only. It is the main route for goods and essential services now that both Highway 1 and 5 are under construction to repair the damages from the recent storms in BC. It is worth noting that this route requires a major detour. It is often plagued with poor winter road conditions and accidents as a result of heavy congestion, doubling our transit time to the Lower Mainland. 

Highway 7 

An announcement was made just last night (Monday, December 6, 2021) stating that Highway 7 between Mission and Hope is now open to general traffic, lightening the load on the other strained routes in the area.

Highway 99 - Cache Creek > Pemberton > Squamish > North Vancouver (Sea to Sky Highway)

Is currently open to essential travel only as defined in the Travel Restrictions Order between Lillooet and Pemberton with checkpoints along the way. There have been threats of slides and actual mudslides along highway 99 resulting in an inconsistently available route. Mudslides are common in the area and affect the roads on a regular basis.

If you are concerned about planning your vehicle's delivery, let us take all the guesswork out for you. By submitting a request on our website you’ll have Team Blackshark on your side. If you’d like to keep tabs on BC Highway conditions and how we’re navigating them you can sign up to receive updates via email using the form at the bottom of this page.