A 1.5 kilometre stretch of Hwy. 4, seen here in June 2021, will not be complete until at least summer 2022 after numerous delays and project overruns. (BC Government)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

ONGOING CONSTRUCTION

Hwy. 4 upgrades at Kennedy Hill delayed again, completion pushed to summer 2022

Oct 22, 2021 | 12:36 PM

NANAIMO — The only road link between Tofino, Ucluelet and the rest of Vancouver Island will remain an active construction zone for a little while longer.

B.C.’s ministry of transportation have again pushed out the completion date for upgrades along Hwy. 4 at Kennedy Hill, east of the oceanside communities, now to summer 2022.

An update posted on the government’s website stated “the need for smaller blasts due to the nature of the fractured bedrock, increased environmental protections and the repairs…from blasting damage at the project site in January 2020 have contributed to a new projected project completion date and increase in budget.”

The budget now sits at $53.96 million, up from the original $38.1 million. Crews estimate the upgrades to the 1.5 kilometre stretch are now around 75 per cent complete.

The project was originally due for completion in the summer of 2020.

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Safety improvements on the road include widening the highway to include two full lanes of traffic, straightening the road to eliminate blind corners, reducing steep grades for commercial traffic and stabilizing the rock slope.

In order to accommodate the work multi-hour, daily closures will continue through the winter and spring. Updated schedules on projected road closures are posted on a public Facebook group.

“Day-time closures have been in place since last year to allow crews to safely undertake some of the most complex blasting on the project,” the update read. “The blasting is necessary to widen and straighten the highway following along the high rock bluffs beside Kennedy Lake.”

The project has sustained many setbacks, including the rock slide during work in January 2020.

Planned blasting on Jan. 23 accidently severed the road in both directions with a temporary bridge installed days later to restore at least partial access.

The more robust bridge remained until late February once the road was cleared and repaired.

Residents and tourists on western Vancouver Island had supply lines cut for almost a week as a result of the slide with many grocery stores running out of fresh food while gas stations began to ration fuel.

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