Weekday closures of Highway 99 between Whistler and Squamish will continue until about mid-August, as crews work to clean up debris from rock slides May 19 and 22 in the Cheakamus Canyon. The schedule of openings will be on the hour every hour for 15 minutes, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. The exception will be at noon, where there will be a half-hour opening, from noon to 12:30 p.m. On Fridays the same schedule of 15-minute openings (and the half-hour noon opening) will be in effect from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be no work done from 4 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Monday. Two lanes may be open on weekends during daylight hours. The highway will be open to single-lane alternating traffic from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Highways crews hope to be able to pave the Cheakamus section at the same time Powerline Hill is being repaved, in mid-August. Whistler Secondary will require at least three portable classrooms when the new school opens in September. The school was originally scheduled to open last September. Whistler’s high-school aged population increased nearly 60 per cent between September 1994 and September 1995, in anticipation of the school’s opening. The Parents Advisory Council and the school board have been trying to get Whistler high school students to pre-register for this fall, in anticipation of another substantial increase in student numbers. The latest figures indicate the student population will exceed the school’s capacity, requiring at least three portable classrooms. Fitzsimmons Road North will see some increased traffic at times this summer, as Greenside Developments does preloading and installs services at the Whistler Campground lands. Greenside is keeping the campground open this summer while proceeding with its housing development on part of the lands. However, the development company has asked for and received council’s approval to re-route campground traffic through Fitzsimmons Road during peak construction periods in July. The re-routing will only be done on week days.
