Hwy 4 Closure - Kennedy Hill

January 25 9:15 AM

The Highway is currently open to essential travel, small vehicles and pickups like yesterday and will remain open until noon today. At noon, the highway will be closed again and we will begin installation of the temp bridge. During this time there will be no access through the site for any vehicles including Emergency Services. We are in coordination with Emergency Services, EMBC and others to coordinate alternative options for patient transfers, etc.

The installation of the bridge is expected to take approx. 24 hrs. DriveBC currently shows an estimated opening of Sunday afternoon (Jan 26th). Once crews have got started on the installation this afternoon we will be able to provide a more accurate estimated time of opening with higher confidence. That update will come around 5:00 PM.

January 24 17:00

Additional Highway 4 opening on Saturday before bridge installation

PORT ALBERNI - Highway 4 at Kennedy Hill will close at 8 p.m. for overnight foundation work in preparation for weekend bridge installation.

There will be a limited opening on Saturday, January 25th between 8 a.m. and noon for passenger vehicles and light pickups.

Vehicles will be screened at the Tofino/Ucluelet junction and at Sproat Lake and larger vehicles will be turned around. Heavy loads, trucks with dualies and vehicles with wide campers or towing trailers will not be let through. Please obey the instructions of traffic control personnel.

For motorists impacted by the Highway 4 closure, two Emergency Support Hubs are available in Pacific Rim National Park. Combers Beach parking lot is available for semi-trailer trucks, and Green Point Campground overflow is available for RVs and campers.

Once these smaller vehicles have cleared at noon Saturday, a specialized crew will begin installing a 20-metre single-lane bridge at the site. A specialized bridge crew is bringing in resources and will be working day and night to complete the install. Work will be challenged as the bridge will be placed in a narrow space between the rock bluff and Kennedy Lake.

The ministry along with our contractor on site our completing a comprehensive work plan to expedite the works as safely as possible. The goal is to have Highway 4 reopened to regular traffic Sunday afternoon, January 26th. The ministry will update the estimated closure window for the bridge installation as work progresses, with updates posted to DriveBC and the contractor�s Facebook project page.

The damage to Highway 4 was caused by an unexpectedly large volume of rock falling on rain-saturated ground during a scheduled blast early on Thursday, January 23, as part of the Highway 4 - Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement project. The highway was closed to traffic at the time of the blast.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure thanks area residents and other people who rely on the highway for their patience and understanding.

When completed later this year, the Highway 4 - Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project will create a safer and more reliable connection between Port Alberni and the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Learn more:

Call 1 855 451-7152 to listen to the travel information hotline message, updated daily during construction
General project information and traffic schedules are available at www.gov.bc.ca/highway4kennedyhill
Visit DriveBC and follow @DriveBC and #BCHwy4 on Twitter

For more information on the Emergency Support Hubs for commercial truck drivers and RVs and campers, contact Pacific Rim National Park Reserve at 250-726-3524. Highway 4 to open to essential traffic only

PORT ALBERNI - Highway 4 at Kennedy Hill will reopen to essential travel only between noon and 8 p.m. today, January 24th. Travel will be restricted to passenger vehicles and light pickups only.

Vehicles will be screened at the Tofino/Ucluelet junction and at Sproat Lake and larger vehicles will be turned around. Heavy loads, trucks with dualies and vehicles towing trailers will not be let through. Please obey the instructions of traffic control personnel.

This is a limited opening for essential travel only. Once these vehicles have cleared, a portable bridge will be installed to open the highway to regular traffic as quickly and safely as possible. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure estimates a lengthy closure to install the bridge. The ministry will update the estimated closure window for the bridge installation as soon as possible.

The contractor worked non-stop through the night to build up the road base after a portion of the shoulder and travelling surface sloughed away. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure thanks Emil Anderson Construction and its crew for the round-the-clock effort to reopen the highway.

While some progress was made, the base wasn't building as quickly as project engineers had estimated. Overnight, the decision was made to bridge the damaged section of highway to open it as soon as possible.

The damage to Highway 4 was caused by a large volume of rock released during a scheduled blast early on Thursday, January 23, as part of the Highway 4 - Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement project. The highway was closed to traffic at the time of the blast.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure thanks area residents and other people who rely on the highway for their patience and understanding.

When completed later this year, the Highway 4 - Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project will create a safer and more reliable connection between Port Alberni and the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Learn more:

Call 1 855 451-7152 to listen to the travel information hotline message, updated daily during construction
General project information and traffic schedules are available at www.gov.bc.ca/highway4kennedyhill
Visit DriveBC and follow @DriveBC and #BCHwy4 on Twitter

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