Sea-to-Sky Highway closed by crash

The Sea to Sky Highway, which connects Vancouver and Whistler was closed in both directions because of a head-on collision on Monday morning.

The 13-kilometre section of Highway 99 between Lions Bay and Porteau Cove Provincial Park, just north of Horseshoe Bay, was closed after a pick-up truck and a Volkswagen Van had a head on collision around 10:45 a.m. PT.

The driver of the truck escaped with minor injuries, but two people in the van both suffered serious injuries and had to be cut out of the vehicle by the jaws of life.

The highway was expected to reopen to alternating single lane traffic around 12:15 p.m. The crash was not linked to a minor rockslide futher north on the Highway on Monday morning, said officials.

The highway had been plagued by deadly head-on collisions, with as many as 10 each year prior to the $800 million upgrade before the 2010 Olympics.

Monday's collision was the first head-on accident on the Sea to Sky since February, according to Dave Crebo of the B.C. Transportation Ministry.