Landslide on Highway 97 north of Summerland, pictured in 2019. The site of a landslide that severed the main artery between Penticton and Kelowna in 2019 has seen some activity this week, prompting a geotechnical assessment. In early February 2019, a large landslide swept Highway 97 near Callan Street between Summerland and Peachland, making all four lanes impassable. Some witnesses reported boulders as big as cars. More than a week after the closure, a specially designed detour around the slide opened, allowing traffic to flow north and south again. Reopening the freeway itself would take many more weeks, and full cleanup and repair was not completed until September 2019. The total price was about $2.4 million. Almost four years later, the Department for Transport and Infrastructure is still monitoring the site, which has seen activity this week. On Tuesday, November 15, some debris came down the slope at the site. Some small rocks reached the highway and more debris was caught by safety netting on the slope and locks along the ditch. Traffic was not interrupted. The ministry says its maintenance contractor is now monitoring the slope with “increased patrols,” according to a statement to Castanet on Wednesday. “Safety is the ministry’s first priority. The ministry’s maintenance contractor is monitoring the slope with increased patrols and the ministry will conduct a geotechnical assessment of the slope on Thursday, November 17.”
