Highway 4 expected to fully reopen next week, but will be closed all day Tuesday

Workers perform rock-scaling work near the site of the Cameron Bluffs wildfire. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)

The long-awaited full reopening of Highway 4 is expected to come before the Labour Day long weekend, transportation officials said.

However, the road will need to close from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday for additional rock scaling before it can open to two-lane traffic.

On Thursday, during the highway’s second planned full daytime closure, crews removed approximately a dozen refrigerator-sized boulders from Angel Rock, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said.

Crews also placed 700 metres of roadside barrier and resurfaced the highway in key locations.

The highway will continue to be closed from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays until work is completed—for which there is no exact date.

The forestry road detour route will remain open until then.

When the highway fully reopens, the signs and checkpoints leading to the detour route will be taken down, the ministry said.

Since the highway was first closed, crews have removed around 200 danger trees and 1,000 tonnes of rock-scaling debris, according to officials.

Work left to be done includes installing the last half of 1.4 kilometres of barrier and catchment fencing, bolting rocks to secure the bluffs and finishing pavement patching, line marking and sign installation.

The vital roadway connecting west coast communities to the rest of Vancouver Island has been shut down in some capacity since June 6, when it was closed due to the Cameron Bluffs wildfire.