Skip to content

Robert Service Way reopens following rainstorm

Closure of road and parallel trail on Sunday and Monday ends Tuesday morning.
32920596_web1_230408_YKN_news_Landslide-wb_1
A landslide shut down Robert Service Way in Whitehorse on April 8. Since then the road has been periodically reopened but it closed again June 4 due to increased slide risk. (Dana Hatherly/Yukon News Files)

Update 8:30 a.m. June 6:

Robert Service Way and the Millennium Trail reopened at 7 a.m. this morning. Road and trail users are being asked to drive to conditions.

Original Story:

Amid movement observed on the escarpment once more and heavy rain on the way, the City of Whitehorse has closed Robert Service Way and nearby trails again.

A Sunday, June 4 bulletin from the city states that the slope scanner that has been used to monitor the hillside above the roadway that has been periodically closed since early April picked up movement again around 3 a.m. Sunday morning. The decision to close the road was made at 8 a.m.

According to the city, a small landslide was observed at around noon on Sunday and the amount of movement detected by the slope scanner increased through the afternoon.

The closure also comes alongside a special weather statement from Environment Canada suggesting the southern Yukon may be blasted with heavy rain today.

The special weather statement says the rain may cause potentially hazardous conditions including an increased risk of landslides and road washouts as well as rapidly rising river and lake levels. The weather statement deals with the period from this morning to Tuesday morning, 20-50 mm of rain is expected in that time and below-seasonal temperatures are also forecasted.

According to Environment Canada, the forecasted rain event is driven by a cold low pressure system currently stalled over Northern British Columbia. The rainfall expected over the 36-hour period may equal or exceed the June average for the southern Yukon, but it is expected to ease Tuesday morning.

(Jim Elliot)



Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
Read more