The last notoriously narrow stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon has been transformed, and commuters will be treated to a four-lane, divided roadway within weeks.
“The Trans-Canada Highway in the Kicking Horse Canyon is more than a scenic road in the mountains. It’s an example of what we can accomplish when we work together,” said John Aldag, MP for Cloverdale-Langley City, on behalf of Sean Fraser, federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
“Very soon, commuters will be able to drive along this newly expanded highway, allowing more people to get to where they need to go safely and efficiently.”
Approximately five kilometres of narrow, two-lane highway east of Golden, B.C., have been transformed over the last three years, and preparations are being made to transition traffic onto the new highway and bridges by the beginning of December 2023.
It was the fall of 2022 when people began using a large section of the recently constructed eastbound lanes.
The remaining eastbound lanes on the Bighorn Viaduct were completed earlier this year, and construction focused on the new westbound lanes plus associated walls and rockfall protections through the project.
In late September and early October, crews finished the last major concrete pour on the project and completed the Lynx, Elk and Caribou viaducts.
There will be no further extended closures of Highway 1.
Limited construction delays, including nighttime closures, will continue to occur through November 2023.
While minimal work is expected during the winter, final work on the project, including top-lift paving, will occur in spring 2024 and will require additional traffic management in the run-up to final completion.
B.C. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said in 2019 that widening and realigning a 4.8-kilometre stretch of the Trans Canada Highway east of Golden, B.C., was expected to cost $601 million — an increase over the $450 million estimated in 2016.
The project is cost-shared, with the federal government contributing $215 million. The contract value is $440.6 million.
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