A section of Highway 837 northwest of Drumheller, Alta., remains closed four months after heavy rain contributed to landslides that buried the road. Farmers and acreage owners in the Orkney area say the closure has stretched their drive into Drumheller from about 20 minutes to nearly an hour, disrupting work and business through the summer and fall.

“ A lot of people here have businesses in town or live in town and farm and it’s just been a problem for them all summer,” said farmer Blaine Ferguson. He said one man who lives within half a mile of the slide travels in the opposite direction past Ferguson’s house at 5 a.m. to reach a business about eight kilometres down the road from his home. Ferguson called the situation discouraging after the long wait.

People north of Drumheller can use the Bleriot Ferry to cross the river and cut their commute by about half. In the fall, however, the ferry runs only from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., compared with service that previously continued until 11 p.m. Residents say the reduced hours add to the burden for workers who need to travel outside the ferry schedule.

Steve Vernon, a local business owner, said his workday has grown from six to eight hours to 10 hours. “I come out in the morning from Drumheller and gather my equipment or whatever I have to do,” he said. “Then I have to go right back to Drumheller or wherever but it takes 50 minutes if you go around and then if you go by ferry, sometimes you can’t take some of your equipment over (because it’s too heavy).”

Ferguson farms more than 1,800 hectares. He seeded canola, barley and wheat this year and is harvesting, with about 400 hectares left to combine. Some of his hired workers come from Drumheller and work later than the ferry’s fall operating hours.

“You try to work as late at night as you can then they have to travel quite a big route all the way around because the ferry that used to run till 11 closes down at seven now,” Ferguson said. “It’s an awful lot of time and fuel for those guys and I compensate them for fuel and time because they shouldn’t have to add that much to their day you know.”

Vernon said the closure is also costing Drumheller business. He said farmers and other residents from the area spend money in town, but may take their business elsewhere while access remains difficult. “Drumheller should be concerned about it too because there is a lot of good business people out here and good people that spend a lot of money in Drumheller,” he said.

“I think of it as like the cat coming into your house - he wants to come in the house, but if you don’t let him in he’s going to find another house to go in and so that’s what’s happening here. All the farmers and everybody are going to go to other towns for their business,” Vernon said.

Construction crews are continuing work at the slide site, but the province has not said when Highway 837 will reopen. A transportation department spokesperson said in a release that heavy rainfall events in late spring and early summer contributed to large landslides that buried the highway. The slide barriers and electronic sensors used to provide early warning of potential landslides were also seriously damaged.

Crews are assessing damage to the driving surface and will begin any repairs that are needed, the spokesperson said. New concrete barriers are being delivered, and replacement sensor parts have been ordered. The highway will stay closed until all repairs are complete.

Ferguson’s family homesteaded in the area in the early 1900s, and his father began the family farm in 1947. Ferguson said Highway 837 has long been prone to landslides, but he does not recall a repair taking this long. “It’s probably been 75, 80 years that it didn’t have a sensor on it,” he said. “You can see the slide, you know and you clean it up, not wait for four months for a sensor to tell you it slid, you can you can see that for yourself.”

Based on reporting by CTV News Calgary.