Starting September 26, 2022, the full time Kicking Horse diversion of the TransCanada Highway will again come into effect. All traffic will be diverted through Radium along highways 93 and 95, all day and night. This diversion can add between an hour and a half to two hours to travel time, depending on the volume of heavy truck traffic and the weather.
Any hint of frost or snow can really impact this route as there is minimal road maintenance and no cell service along Highway 93. There was talk during the last diversion in the spring of adding temporary cell towers along the route, but nothing has been done to-date. For a time there were four emergency satellite phones installed about every fifteen minutes apart along Highway 93, but it is not known if this service has continued. Safety would certainly be improved with the addition of any sort of cell phone service, temporary or not. The satellite phones certainly help to reduce emergency response times, but are still only a bandaid solution.
There will be a short lifting of the diversion over the Thanksgivings Day weekend. The TCH will be open from 12pm on Friday, October 7, until noon on Tuesday,October 11.
For the most up to date information please see https://www.kickinghorsecanyon.ca/