Coquihalla reopened Friday morning

The Coquihalla Highwayreopened just before 8 a.m. Friday, the B.C. Transportation Ministry said.

The busy route between the Lower Mainland and the province's Southern Interior was closed on Feb. 7 after the heavy snowfall made the avalanche risk extreme.

Hours later, several avalanches buried all four lanes of the mountain highway in up to five metres of snow.

Further heavy snow and bad weather during the week led to the threat of more slides, preventing crews from clearing some sections of the highway for a week.

The closure was the first time since the highway between Hope and Merritt was completed in 1986 that it was off limits to trafficbecause of avalanches.