(UPDATE: Nov. 12 @ 3:45 pm) – The Coquihalla Highway (Hwy 5) is now fully open after an earlier accident shut down the road.

Southbound lanes opened up around 1:30 pm and crews were able to get the northbound lanes open around two hours later.

DriveBC says that delays and congestion should be expected in the area after the multi-hour closure.

(UPDATE: Nov. 12 @ 1:45 pm) – The northbound lane of the Coquihalla Highway (Hwy 5) are now open.

They had previously been closed near the Carolin Mine Road Exit after a "vehicle incident," which is reportedly a significant crash.

Southbound lanes remain closed with no estimated time for them to reopen.

A full assessment remains in progress, but DriveBC says to "consider using an alternate route."

(Original story: Nov. 12 @ 1 pm) – Today’s poor weather has brought difficult driving conditions on mountain passes in the BC Interior and it’s resulted in a closure on a Coquihalla Highway (Hwy 5).

DriveBC says the road is closed in both directions near the Carolin Mine Road Exit, which is between the Coquihalla summit and Hope.

An assessment is currently in progress, but a “vehicle incident” is being listed as the issue.

Typically, that means some sort of crash.

People on Twitter and Facebook road condition groups are calling the incident serious in nature, but there’s been no official word yet.

NowMedia will update this story as more information becomes available.