A month after a key highway connecting Vancouver Island’s west coast to the rest of the island reopened, businesses and travellers are facing new headaches.
Highway 4, the only paved route to Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino, was closed for more than two weeks due to the Cameron Lake wildfire.
The route reopened to single-lane alternating traffic in late June, but has continued to face challenges. On Sunday, the route was closed after high winds forced transportation officials to drop special mesh meant to prevent debris from falling on the road.
The road has reopened, but will see 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily, starting on Tuesday, while crews complete rock scaling work needed for the eventual full reopening of the highway.
Work was meant to begin Monday but was delayed, again due to high winds.
The road will be open for two hours at mid-day to “flush” traffic buildup.
The intermittent closures from the work and the single-lane alternations have put pressure on local businesses.
“Its coming in waves of people. Its hard to know when we’re going to get the waves,” Leanne Hewitt, owner of the Coombs Country Candy and Creamery.
“We’re trying to keep the staffing on, not laying anybody off. But its really hard to predict.”
Hewitt said the roadside attraction has extended its hours to accommodate the times when the highway is open, but that business notably drops off during closures.
They’ve been relying on support from the local community to stay afloat, she said.
“We have still kind of kept busy that way,” she said. “I hope the worst is behind us for sure.”
In addition to the impacts on businesses, Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Joleen Dick said some travellers have been confused by the closures.
“It’s really hard. People I was talking to last night here at the visitors centre, they kind of didn’t have too many ideas on what options they had,” she said.
“So I coached them on the detour what they need to do if they do choose to travel the detour or what they can do if they choose to wait to go through. So its definitely a new experience for many folks who may not be used to rural communities.”
Last month, the province opened a detour route to Port Alberni on an industrial forest service road. However, the route adds several hours to the trip and is in an area without mobile phone service.
Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions said the situation has highlighted the need for better access routes to her community and those on the island’s west coast.
Minions said she has arranged a meeting of local mayors, chairs and First Nations chiefs to ask the province to improve transportation access.
“We do have multiple detour routes that could be activated if needed. And in the longer term we are working with the province on a permanent second location,” Minions said.
“We know that the current detour, though its nice to have, ads a lot of travel time and is not really doable for the average person, so we’re working on a push to the province.”
Minions wants to see the idea of a Horne Lake connector revived. That concept would see Port Alberni connected to Highway 19 at Qualicum via Horne Lake to the north.
The Ministry of Transportation conducted a business case review of the idea in 2016, but the then-BC Liberal government rejected the $92-million project as too expensive.
In a statement, Transportation Minister Rob Fleming acknowledged the highway’s woes have been “challenging for businesses and the tourism sector in the area.
In the meantime, businesses like Coombs Country Candy and Creamery are doing their best to make do with the uncertainty.
Work to fully reopen Highway 4 is not expected to be complete until mid-August.