Normally at this time of year the Meadows in the Sky Parkway is clear all the way to the summit of Mount Revelstoke National Park, but this roadblock at Kilometre 13 now marks the limit anyone can drive — for now. The road to the top has been blocked since a mudslide and heavy run spring runoff undermined the road way near Bridge Creek a few kilometres beyond this point. “As you know we are working quickly to have a solution for the road closure on Mount Revelstoke,” Parks Canada media officer Jacolyn Daniluck said Thursday. "We have been looking at a number of options and while engineering techniques such as piling and cribbing were being considered, within the past 48 hours, we now are seriously considering what we believe to be a better option; re-aligning the road and using a "gabion" wall as support for the road. We have decided that the road will need to be re-aligned, or moved over, by about four feet, away from the failed area, and then a support structure put in place. The gabions would provide the support needed to make the road safe for visitor traffic.” Gabion retaining structures are rectangular wire mesh baskets filled with rock to form flexible, permeable, monolithic structures. The lack of easy access to the summit of the park has forced the Friends of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier to close their Balsam Lake Bookstore and while the Chamber of Commerce hopes this won't have a drastic effect on tourism... you do have to wonder. David F. Rooney photo
