Image: City of Chilliwack / A City of Chilliwack spokesperson says BC Hydro closed Vedder Mountain Road, which connects Chilliwack residents with Cultus Lake and Yarrow, Thursday morning (Sept. 12) without the necessary authorization. This image at 10:07 a.m. Thursday morning shows single-lane alternating traffic on Vedder Mountain Road. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Vedder Mountain Road

Update: BC Hydro spokesperson says the utility did not close Vedder Mountain Road Thursday morning for repair work

Sep 12, 2024 | 1:11 PM

UPDATE AT 2:45 P.M. THURSDAY: BC Hydro spokesperson Mora Scott says it wasn’t BC Hydro that closed Vedder Mountain Road Thursday morning. In a brief phone call with Fraser Valley Today, Scott says she checked with a BC Hydro field manager and confirmed no repairs were done Thursday by BC Hydro on Vedder Mountain Road. She suspects it was a contractor or Rogers Communications, whose utilities are connected to BC Hydro, that was involved in the road closure, but says it was not BC Hydro. She did confirm that BC Hydro conducted repair work Sunday, Sept. 8 on Vedder Mountain Road in Chilliwack.

Original story below from 1:11 p.m. Thursday:

CHILLIWACK — A City of Chilliwack spokesperson says BC Hydro closed Vedder Mountain Road, which connects Chilliwack residents with Cultus Lake and Yarrow, Thursday morning (Sept. 12) without the necessary authorization.

According to a statement from Alexandra Carter Page, communications coordinator for the City of Chilliwack, BC Hydro closed Vedder Mountain Road west of the Vedder Bridge without a permit from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thursday.

Carter Page says BC Hydro was subsequently informed by municipal staff that their repair work required a permit from the City and that the City would not grant them road closure authorization during the day.

Missing person

RCMP looks for man who fell in the Fraser River

3h ago

Stabbing in Langley

Langley man, 26, stabbed in what police are calling a 'targeted, isolated' incident

3h ago

Surrey, B.C., ER doctors call for 'new leadership' amid 'toxic' work environment

3h ago

Vedder Mountain Road has now been changed to single-lane traffic and the work should be completed before 2 p.m. Thursday, Carter Page said.

As of 1:11 p.m., Vedder Mountain Road appears to be flowing freely.

The repair work is presumably connected to a motor vehicle accident in which a truck reportedly veered off Vedder Mountain Road and over an embankment early Sunday morning, Sept. 8. A utility pole had to be reportedly replaced.

Approximately 1,207 customers in Cultus Lake, parts of Columbia Valley Highway, Soowahlie First Nation and Vedder Mountain Road were without power for at least 10 hours Sunday.

A Chilliwack resident told Fraser Valley Today Sunday that some Cultus Lake residents utilized backup generators at their homes due to the power outage.