VICTORIA -- Travellers heading to or from the western Vancouver Island communities of Tofino and Ucluelet will have to pick their times carefully this weekend.

The province will be closing Highway 4, the only vehicle route in or out of the area, for 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday.

The B.C.Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the closure is necessary to make permanent repairs to the road at Kennedy Hill, a few kilometres from the Tofino-Ucluelet junction.

Last month, the highway was taken out by a rockslide while crews were doing construction at the site. A temporary bridge was installed but not before Tofino and Ucluelet were cut off from the rest of the island for days.

The highway will be closed from 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 until 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. During this time, crews will remove the temporary single-lane bridge and repair the damaged slope.

Regular travel restrictions will resume Sunday night as crews continue to implement a permanent fix for the trouble spot.

The ministry says the ongoing Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project will be completed this year.