Highway 4 east of Port Alberni will be closed for two full days later this month for rock scaling.
The road will be closed on Thursday, Aug. 17 and Thursday, Aug. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
According to the province’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the day-time closures will allow crews “to remove approximately a dozen refrigerator-sized boulders as part of the rock-scaling work being done at Angel Rock, which has proved to be the most challenging segment of the bluff.”
The detour road to Lake Cowichan via Bamfield Main will be open during these closures. Information about this detour is available on the ministry’s website.
With the closures, the ministry says it expects Highway 4 to “fully re-open” to two-way traffic at the end of August. The area around Angel Rock has been subject to numerous closures and single-lane alternating traffic since a 229-hectare wildfire broke out along Cameron Lake Bluffs in June. The fire is still burning, although it is considered under control.
“Crews continue to secure the steep bluffs above the highway following destabilization caused by the Cameron Lake Bluff wildfire in June,” the ministry announced. “This crucial work has been delayed by recent weather-related road closures that were necessary for the safety of workers and travellers. About 200 danger trees and 600 tonnes of rock have been removed so far.”
