More closures coming to Highway 4 as ministry delays reopening Vancouver Island highway

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

More closures are coming to Highway 4, the only highway to the western Vancouver Island communities of Port Alberni, Tofino and Ucluelet, as the province announced a delayed timeline for a full reopening Monday.

The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says Highway 4 will be closed for two days this month – Thursday, Aug. 17, and Thursday, Aug. 24.

The Thursday closures will last from 8:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. to allow workers to remove "approximately a dozen refrigerator-sized boulders" from the Angel Rock area of Cameron Lake.

The ministry says the area has been the most challenging portion of the rock-scaling work that has been underway since the Cameron Bluffs wildfire destabilized the slope above the highway.

"Rock scaling is a complex and labour-intensive process, requiring work on cliff faces to safely remove dangerous rock material, and can be carried out only in daylight hours and during favourable weather conditions," the ministry said in a statement.

DELAYED REOPENING

The highway was initially expected to fully reopen to two-way traffic by mid-August but the province now says it is delaying the reopening until the end of the month.

The ministry erected mesh coverings along highway to prevent loose rocks and other debris from falling onto the roadway after the Cameron Bluffs wildfire.

Weekday closures from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. remain in place at Cameron Lake to allow workers to remove debris left by the June wildfire. Single-lane, alternating traffic can pass through the area during a two-hour window from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily.

There are currently no closures overnight or on weekends, however travellers are urged to check the latest road conditions before setting out.

A four-hour detour route along forestry roads between Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan remains open for public and commercial vehicles.

Workers have so far removed approximately 200 dangerous trees and 600 tonnes of rock-scaling debris from the Cameron Lake area, according to the ministry.

The province says the work is critical to ensure the long-term safety of the Highway 4 corridor after a geotechnical assessment found that rock scaling would be required before the highway could safely reopen to two-way traffic.

Highway 4 was closed on June 6 as firefighters battled the Cameron Bluffs wildfire. Single-lane alternating traffic has been in place along the highway since June 23.