Prince George, B.C.- The Ministry of Transportation  says it has crews working “day and night” to make repairs to roads that were washed out during last week’s flooding in the South Peace area.It is hoped  highway 97 through the Pine Pass to Chetwynd will be reopened to single lane alternating traffic by the end of this week.

The Ministry  says there are  nearly 180 pieces of equipment  already on the job repairing the  131 repair sites throughout the South Peace region.  58 of the damage sites were on numbered roads,  73 on various side roads .

There are  16 pieces of heavy equipment  at the major  re-construction sites with  ministry engineers and construction experts  on hand to make sure all roads are  rebuilt to  safely carry  the  public.

Minister of Transportation, Todd Stone says  five of the  six numbered highways in the region are now  open.  “We have managed to provide access for ministry crews and contractors  south of Hasler so we can bring supplies to local residents affected by the flooding” says Stone “Highway 2 in Dawson Creek is now open to two lanes with traffic control and crews working hard to restore the highway to four lanes by next week.”

Stone says 20 of the 38  side roads that were damaged are open to at least  single lane alternating traffic.