An iconic Alberta highway that cuts through the Rocky Mountains, temporarily closed down by a wildfire still raging in Jasper National Park, will partially re-open to drivers on Friday.
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 again be accessible, Parks Canada said Wednesday evening.
The Icefields Parkway between Saskatchewan Crossing to the area of the Icefield Centre in the Athabasca Glacier area, will open Friday.
The route was shuttered more than two weeks ago when massive wildfires spread rapidly through Jasper National Park, threatening the highway, triggering a mass evacuation of the park, and incinerating about one-third of the structures in Jasper.
Evacuation orders remain in effect throughout Jasper National Park and access to the highway 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.
“We’ll continue to provide these tours for as long as the demand is there, [so] there’s no end date in sight for us at this point,” said Joe Zatylny, deputy managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
“We’re making sure that the priority is the residents [who] have lost or have damaged homes, but of course, we’re encouraging all residents to sign up.”
Zatylny said staff from the Town of Jasper are working to finalize a plan for re-entry. A new website is expected to detail the progress.
Officials have said a limited number of critical and retail services, including gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies, are doing initial damage assessments as preparation for re-entry continues.