It’s $16 million over budget and three years late.
But the massive road-building project skirting Kennedy Lake on Highway 4 is nearing completion.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said Friday that work on the 1.5-kilometre Kennedy Hill section is 90 per cent complete and expected to be open again for two-way traffic this fall. A spokesman for the ministry said finishing touches outside of the roadway, including a rest area, will continue through the winter months.
Contractor Emil Anderson Construction is installing the second of two large cantilever bridges along the highway. The cantilever sections are made of steel girders and concrete bridge decks that are bolted into the bedrock to widen the roadway along areas where steep cliffs plunge down to Kennedy Lake.
The cantilevers will eliminate sharp corners and reduce the amount of excavated rock on the cliff sides, the ministry said.
The project has been a massive undertaking — and fraught with issues that have caused delays, including restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic and major repairs to the highway that were required after blasting caused damage to the site in January 2020.
The ministry said smaller blasts on large overhanging bluffs were required due to the nature of the fractured bedrock. Increased environmental protections also contributed to the cost overruns.
The project budget was increased to $53.96 million from $38.1 million, which includes $13.5 million in federal funding.
When completed, the only highway to Pacific Rim National Park and the communities of Ucluelet and Tofino will have wider lanes and paved shoulders, including roadside barriers along the lake side of the highway.
The roadway alignment will remove blind corners and eliminate the 30 km/h speed advisory on curves, and the 12 per cent grade along the hill will be sharply reduced.
The overhanging rock above the road that was a hazard to larger transport vehicles, often requiring them to cross the centre line, has been removed.
The project also includes a rest area with view point on the lake side of the new highway, with an intersection for safe access.
Traffic delays will continue for the next several weeks with single-lane alternating traffic and nightly closures from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Those early morning queues are released at 2 a.m.
The project is 14 kilometres from the Tofino-Ucluelet junction on Highway 4.
Ucluelet Mayor Mayco Noel said the highway improvements will improve the safety of the highway for locals and tourists.
“It’s been a long time, but it’s going to be worth it,” Noel said. “I know a lot of people are going to be happy when it’s all done.”
