The province isn't going to upgrade the Cranberry Connector, a logging road serving as the only alternate route to Highway 16 east linking Terrace and other northwest communities with the rest of the province.

A huge landslide covered Highway 16 about 37 kilometres east of Terrace early Monday morning. As of Wednesday noon there was still no target set for reopening even one lane of the highway, because concern about further instability was slowing cleanup work, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said.

The ministry has graded and graveled a 50 km stretch of logging road from Cranberry Junction on Highway 37 through the Nass Valley as an emergency option for drivers, but Falcon said there won't be any further upgrading on the one-lane radio-assisted route to make it more accessible for vehicles.

"It would be extraordinarily expensive, probably in the $50 million range, just to provide a graveled, two-lane road," Falcon said. "We did a business case analysis in 2004, and there is just no justification for the dollars that would need to be spent, especially given that it would have very, very low volume of traffic."

Falcon encouraged people to stay off the road unless absolutely necessary, adding that it shouldn't be attempted without a four-wheel-drive truck.

rupertdaily.ca Note: We should all be calling Falcon and letting him know what we think of his indifference 250-356-2950