Vancouver Island mayors cheer widening of Highway 4 to Tofino

Ucluelet and Tofino mayors are cheering provincial government plans to fix and widen the most notorious stretch of Highway 4, the route to Vancouver Island’s southwest coast.

“These improvements are the best that could be done on that whole particular stretch of highway, from Port Alberni right through to the west coast,” said Tofino mayor Josie Osborne. “It’s a bad, bad section,” said Ucluelet Mayor Dianne St. Jacques.

Work is set to begin in the spring on a $30-million, two-year project to widen a 1.5-kilometre section of Highway 4 known as Kennedy Hill. It borders Kennedy Lake about 14 kilometres east of where the highway splits to head northwest to Tofino and southeast to Ucluelet.

According to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, it will require major blasting and removal of 300,000 cubic metres of rock, enough to fill 130 Olympic swimming pools. The cost is being shared, with $16.5 million from the province and $13.5 from Ottawa.

One side of the highway section features a sheer rock face rising directly from the asphalt. In one area, the rock face even hangs over the road, creating a hazard for tall trucks. Meanwhile, the other side drops down near vertically to the lake.

Osborne and St. Jacques said most west coast residents have harrowing stories about their Kennedy Hill experiences.

That section of road is too narrow for two large transport trucks going opposite directions to pass, St. Jacques said — one truck must wait for the other to clear the area.

Tourists spotting distractions such as bears routinely stop to gawk and block traffic.