Earlier this month, a pressure ridge that stretched on for a number of kilometers developed on the waters of Lake Diefenbaker, and it ended up preventing the Riverhurst Ice Crossing road from opening.
Typically, the crossing is open to vehicle loads ranging from light to medium weight from the end of January until approximately early March. However, the ice heave that developed made the ice road impassable, and there were some instances where there were spots of open water, due to the ice shifting.
Riverhurst connects to the Lake Diefenbaker region via Highway 42, crossing the lake from Riverhurst on the east side to Lucky Lake on the west side.
On top of the unusable ice road, there have also been recent reports of vehicles going through the ice as motorists attempted to cross.
At the time of the ice heave making its stubborn presence known, the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure’s Executive Director, Doug Wakabayashi, cautioned drivers not to travel on the closed ice road, and to stick to the surrounding major highways.
The pressure ridge was to be monitored and if conditions improved, the ice road would once again become available to the public. However, at the time this issue went to press, the Highway Hotline website stated that the status of the Riverhurst Crossing ice road is that it’s closed for the season.
