Critical routes running through Alberta’s rocky mountains, closed down by a wildfire still raging in Jasper National Park, are now slowly re-opening to traffic.
Drivers are being given access to key highways through two of Alberta’s most popular national parks but travel will be restricted by the ongoing fight against a blaze that devastated the Jasper community.
The stretch of Highway 16 that cuts through the national park will open to all traffic on Friday, provided wildfire conditions allow for safe travel, Parks Canada said in a statement.
The highway will open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., but access is subject to change without notice. Stopping or exiting off of Highway 16 is not permitted and officers will be patrolling the route to ensure drivers comply, officials said. Entry into the townsite remains prohibited.
A special advisory from DriveBC said Highway 16 would be open from Hargreaves Road, near Mount Robson in B.C., and the Alberta-B.C. border, under the same conditions. There will be no services after Mount Robson.
Meanwhile, a southern stretch of the Icefields Parkway, a scenic and highly-travelled route that connects the community of Lake Louise in Banff National Park with the Jasper townsite, will also partially re-open on Friday.
The Icefields Parkway between Saskatchewan Crossing to the area of the Icefield Centre in the Athabasca Glacier area, will again be accessible.
The routes were closed more than two weeks ago when massive wildfires spread rapidly through Jasper National Park, threatening local highways, triggering a mass evacuation of the park, and incinerating about one-third of the structures in Jasper.
Highway 16 through Jasper has been blocked from just west of Hinton to the B.C. border since the evening of July 22, when Parks Canada and the municipality issued a mandatory evacuation order for the national park.
Evacuation orders remain in effect throughout Jasper National Park and access to the Icefields Parkway will only extend as far north as the Icefield Centre. The Icefields Parkway will only be accessible from the south via Highway 11 or Highway 1.
With the threat from the flames subsiding along portions of the route, visitors will again be granted access to one of the park’s most popular destinations, the Columbia Icefield, an ancient expanse of ice about 100 kilometres southwest of the Jasper townsite.
In a statement, operator Pursuit said it is prepared to welcome visitors to the Columbia Icefield on Friday. The Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre, Columbia Icefield Adventure, Ice Odyssey, Columbia Icefield Skywalk at Sunwapta Valley and Glacier View Lodge will all re-open, the operator said in a statement Thursday.
Banff National Park day-use areas and trails on the Icefields Parkway are now open to all visitors, except for Nigel Creek Pass, a backcountry trail near the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre.
With limited visitor safety resources, the Toe of the Athabasca Glacier trail is open but only to authorized operators, officials said.
All other trails and campgrounds in Jasper National Park remain closed.
Due to the current strain on park staff and emergency resources, officials are urging visitors to exercise extreme caution.
Not all services on the highway will be available and, with helicopters in high demand due to the wildfire response, any backcountry rescue operations could be severely delayed, officials said.
The remainder of Jasper National Park will remain closed between the Athabasca Glacier area and Jasper townsite.
About 25,000 residents and visitors were forced from the park two weeks ago as a wildfire overwhelmed firefighting efforts.
There is still no timeline for when it will be deemed safe enough for more than 5,000 residents to return home.
The fire, which continues to burn out of control and remains a threat to the townsite, now spans an estimated 34,000 hectares.
It’s expected that firefighting efforts will continue until fall and that the flames will continue burning unfettered for weeks, if not months.
As evacuees wait for word on re-entry, they are being granted limited access to the park to survey the damage.
Bus tours for residents began this week and separate tours are now being arranged for business owners.
According to the provincial government, 277 households have signed up for tours.
One bus was scheduled to leave Edmonton on Wednesday and pick up more residents in Hinton, Alta., before continuing to Jasper.
Longtime Jasper resident Stephen Nelson captured this video during a bus tour through the devastated historic townsite. The tours are being offered to residents as plans for re-entry ramp up and the fight against the wildfire continues.
Another bus is expected to travel from Calgary to Edson on Thursday, before continuing to Jasper Friday morning.
Officials with the Town of Jasper are working to finalize a plan for re-entry. A new website is expected to detail the progress.
A limited number of critical and retail services, including gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies, are conducting initial damage assessments to ensure essential services can be up and running when the gates to the park re-open to residents, officials said.
In a statement Thursday, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said the anguish felt by the community has been compounded by the death of a 24-year-old Calgary firefighter who was fatally injured on the front lines.
“The tragic loss of life so harshly confirms the ever-present danger of the tasks undertaken on our behalf, deepens our respect and appreciation for all those who continue to work so hard for us, and deepens our resolve,” Ireland said.
Ireland, who lost his own home to the flames, said the grief for some evacuees who lost their homes and businesses, will be overwhelming. He hopes the tours offer some measure of closure.
No date has been set for re-entry, but emergency officials and crews on the ground are working tirelessly to make it a reality as soon as possible.
“Although no date can be set, you will be home — sooner now than before,” he said.
“Your patience, your strength, your resolve will be rewarded. You will be home.”