Traffic delays will continue at Kennedy Hill on Hwy. 4 as a major construction project stumbled into more delays. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Kennedy Hill

Hwy. 4 construction delayed, not to be completed this summer

Mar 26, 2020 | 12:16 PM

NANAIMO — Travelers to and from Vancouver Island’s beautiful west coast will have to endure construction delays much longer than anticipated.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced Thursday, March 26 the substantial upgrades to Kennedy Hill section of Hwy. 4 won’t be done by the original anticipated completion date of summer 2020.

A ministry release said the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the delay but also the “need for more complex blasts due to variable rock, increased environmental protections and the repairs to Hwy. 4 resulting from blasting damage at the project site.”

Substantial aspects of the project, such as final paving of the tight, winding road, were already delayed until fall of 2020.

A new completion date wasn’t provided by the ministry.

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The $38 million project has faced numerous challenges and unexpected closures caused by blasting and washouts.

A temporary bridge had to be installed after a rock slide destabilized the narrow road and cut off access to Tofino and Ucluelet.

By the end of March, 2020 the two-year project was 60 per cent complete.

The initiative features road widening to improve safety along a more than one kilometre stretch of Highway 4 at Kennedy Hill, an area home to several sharp curves.

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