Image: A DriveBC camera image of Mt. Lehman Road at Highway 1. / DriveBC

By Fraser Valley Today Staff

Road safety

Province closes Highway 1 east of Chilliwack while advising motorists against travel through the Fraser Valley

Dec 10, 2025 | 8:07 PM

CHILLIWACK — In a rare move, the province’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit is advising people to avoid all non-essential travel through the Fraser Valley as heavy rain continues to pour over the region.

The travel advisory was issued on Wednesday (Dec. 10), saying Highway 1 and other provincial routes could close with little or no notice as water levels across the region continued to rise. A short time after releasing the advisory, the province closed Highway 1 east of Chilliwack.

According to a social media post from DriveBC, eastbound lanes of Highway 1 are closed between Bridal Falls at Highway 9 and Hope due to flooding. It says there is no eastbound access to Hope from the Fraser Valley. In addition, the Coquihalla Highway has been closed north of Hope due to flooding at Sowaqua, blocking all travel between Hope and Merritt.

Ministry staff and maintenance contractors are stepping up monitoring activities. Traffic control crews have been placed on stand-by if a shutdown of highways becomes necessary.

Highway 11 at the Sumas border crossing is already closed to commercial truck traffic. Only local traffic is being allowed through.

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Meantime, the Ministry says Highway 7 is shut down west of Hope between Highway 9 and Ross Road. Rocks have fallen onto the roadway. A slope assessment will need to be completed before the road is opened again. The assessment is expected to be conducted Thursday. A reopening timeline could be released at that point.

Highway 1 between Yale and Lytton has also been closed because of the weather conditions.