VICTORIA -- Commuters beware: work crews are planning prolonged daytime closures for the only highway in and out of Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim communities for five consecutive Wednesdays starting later this month.

Blasting and rock removal will prevent all traffic from getting through Highway 4’s Kennedy Hill area near Tofino and Ucluelet.

Both lanes will be closed for 10 hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. every Wednesday from April 28 until May 26.

The regular four-hour Kennedy Hill closures will continue between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on all other weekdays as previously scheduled.

B.C.’s transportation ministry says this round of closures should be the last round of 10-hour daytime closures before the highway renewal project is complete. The ministry says the on-site contractors will move to nighttime blasting as the summer months approach.

The province says an overall update on the project will be provided once the 10-hour daytime closures are complete.

Last January, blasting at the Kennedy Hill site triggered a rockslide that cut off access to Tofino and Ucluelet for a weekend.

Intermittent highway closures have been continuous ever since.

The full schedule of highway closures for the area is available here.