Many drivers travelling between Vancouver and Squamish had an awful night as they waited hours on the closed Sea to Sky Highway during a crash investigation.

Squamish RCMP said police responded to two motorcycle crashes on Highway 99 within an hour Tuesday evening. One driver only sustained upper body injuries, but the other was critically injured after losing control of the bike near Britannia Beach’s Copper Drive.

The critically injured driver was taken to hospital and has since stabilized, Cpl. Angela Kermer said in a news release.

“It’s hard for us to encourage car drivers to respect motorcyclists who don’t maintain control of their bikes and at times speeding laws. This being said, we remind car drivers to maintain situational awareness for their own safety so they don’t become secondary victims,” Kermer said.

The crash required a multi-agency response, including the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service (ICARS).

In all, Squamish RCMP says the highway was closed for about six hours.

The key route was first closed between 9 and 10 pm and didn’t reopen until after 3 am, according to tweets from DriveBC.

⛔REMINDER – CLOSED #BCHwy99 – Vehicle incident near Copper Drive in #BritanniaBeach has the highway closed in BOTH directions. Assessment in Progress.
No Detour Available.
Watch for crews and expect delays.
More info: https://t.co/1hUDI7AJTq#SeaToSky #SquamishBC

— DriveBC (@DriveBC) May 3, 2023

This is the second time this week the Sea to Sky Highway has been closed for five hours or more. On Saturday morning, another crash near Britannia Beach closed the highway from about 10 am until after 3 pm.

@jonitoews #whistler #traffic #seatoskyhighway #fml ♬ Coming In Hot – Andy Mineo & Lecrae