Highway to Tofino, Ucluelet switching to nighttime construction closures

Daytime closures of the only highway in and out of Tofino and Ucluelet, B.C., are expected to come to an end next month when they will be replaced with nighttime closures.

The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the weekday closures along Highway 4 at Kennedy Hill will end on March 11. Regular closures on the route have been a constant since 2020 when construction work was initially due to be complete.

Currently, the highway is closed from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Starting in March, the schedule will switch to nighttime closures between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., with a planned release of traffic in both directions at 2 a.m.

Regular delays will continue through the area, with traffic queues released at the top of the hour between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays.

On weekends, the road will be open to single-lane alternating traffic during the day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Traffic will be released at the top of the hour on weekends from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The ministry says the new schedule is meant to make trip planning easier for travellers ahead of the spring.

"The bluff-blasting portion of the project removed more than 150,000 cubic metres of rock to widen and straighten 1.5 kilometres of highway along the bluffs over Kennedy Lake," the province said in a statement Wednesday.

"With this stage of the project completed, the contractor will shift focus to road alignment and grade lowering, which includes building support structures."

The ministry says the project should be substantially completed by summer 2022 with work continuing through the fall.

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 $53.9 million.