Travellers along Highway 4 on Vancouver Island should prepare for prolonged closures as the province begins work to remove loose rocks and hazardous debris along a hillside that was scorched by wildfires near Port Alberni.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the highway will be closed at Cameron Lake from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday from July 17 until mid-August, with a two-hour opening to flush traffic between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily.
The ministry says the work is critical to ensure the long-term safety of the corridor and that a geotechnical assessment of the hillside found that rock scaling would be required before the highway can reopen to two-way traffic.
"This is a crucial step to ensure Highway 4 can fully reopen as soon as possible, end single-lane alternating traffic, and keep goods and people moving into our western communities," says a statement from Transportation Minister Rob Fleming.
"We know this has been a challenging time for businesses and the tourism sector on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and we thank people for their patience as we work as quickly as possible to get this main corridor safely operating at full capacity again," Fleming added.
Outside of the closure periods, Highway 4 will continue to operate with single-lane alternating traffic. The detour route will also remain open for public and commercial use.
Highway 4 was closed on June 6 as firefighters battled the Cameron Bluffs wildfires. Single-lane alternating traffic has been in place along the highway since June 23.
