BANFF – Highway 93 South through Kootenay National Park, which was closed on Thursday morning because of a head-on vehicle collision, has reopened.
STARS Air Ambulance was called to the scene near Simpson trailhead south of Vermilion Crossing Thursday morning (Oct. 6).
"STAR-1 crew and helicopter were dispatched for a head-on collision on Hwy. 93," said Deborah Tetley, manager of external relations and marketing for STARS in an email.
"We landed at the scene and cared for and transported a 24-year-old male patient to Foothills Medical Centre where he arrived in stable condition."
The highway was closed in both directions for a few hours, but reopened shortly after 1 p.m..
“Expect delays as congestion clears,” stated Drive BC.
Columbia Valley RCMP and Radium Fire also responded to the scene.
The roughly 1.5-hour diversion on Highway 95 between Golden and Radium and Highway 93 South between Radium and Castle Mountain is due to the $601 million upgrades of approximately 4.8 kilometres of the Trans-Canada at Kicking Horse Canyon east of Golden.
A two-month closure of the Trans-Canada Highway began on Sept. 26 and continues until Dec. 1, opening only during the Thanksgiving holiday long weekend from Oct. 7-11.
Last winter, there were several accidents on Highway 93 South with increased traffic because of the diversion from the Trans-Canada Highway.
A major winter snowstorm in November that shut down Highway 93 South forced some drivers to spend the night in their vehicles.
Several vehicles lost control during white-out conditions on icy sections of the mountain road, including a semi-trailer that jack-knifed and blocked the two-lane highway during the height of the storm.
On Sept. 18 this year, a vehicle rollover had the southbound lane blocked two kilometres north of Kootenay Pond.
New mitigation measures in Kootenay National Park include the installation of new speed readers to notify traffic of their actual speed at select locations and additional lights on recommended speed signs to increase awareness.
In addition, the Storm Mountain brake check area has now been altered from optional to mandatory and the lane marketing are being repainted to increase visibility.
Enhanced patrols and enforcement along Highway 93 South will also happen.
Cell phone coverage is not available in Kootenay National Park, however, there are emergency satellite phones at Marble Canyon, Kootenay Crossing Operations Centre, Simpson River trailhead and Kootenay River day-use area.
