Highway 4 to Tofino could reopen to two-way traffic this winter

After more than three years of construction closures, the British Columbia government says two-way traffic is set to return to Highway 4, the only route to the popular tourist destinations of Tofino and Ucluelet, B.C.

The province says the highway could reopen in both directions early in the new year with final completion possible by the spring, weather permitting.

(Province of B.C.)

The Transportation Ministry called the announcement Tuesday a major milestone in the project to upgrade a 1.5-killometre stretch of the highway along Kennedy Lake.

The province says the project, which began in 2018, is now more than 90 per cent complete

Workers have been removing hazardous overhanging rock that has been a source of rockslides onto the highway in the past. The roadway has also been straightened with wider travel lanes and new roadside barriers between the highway and the lake below.

A new rest area with washrooms and a viewpoint are also planned for the site.

The Kennedy Lake construction project was originally scheduled for completion in summer 2020 at a cost of $38.1 million. The cost has since grown to $54 million as delays have pushed the completion date ever further into the future.

Aerial view of the Highway 4 improvements at Kennedy Lake. (Province of B.C./Flickr)

In January 2020, blasting at the construction site triggered a rockslide that cut off traffic access to Tofino and Ucluelet for a weekend.

The province says when both lanes are open, intermittent nighttime closures and short daytime closures will persist until the project is complete.