Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors have provided a construction notice for the closure schedule to Highway 1 east of Golden for the month of April.
The schedule at the start of the month is similar to previous months and the March schedule: open during the day, with minor closures causing 30 minute delays from 9 a.m. MDT to 3 p.m. MDT, and from 6 p.m. MDT until 10 p.m. MDT. From 3 p.m. MDT until 6 p.m. MDT, there is no scheduled closures or delays.
On weekends, Saturday will have delays from 9 a.m. MDT until 3 p.m. MDT, while Sundays will have delays between 6 p.m MDT and 10 p.m. MDT.
The highway will be closed overnight from 10 p.m. MDT until 7 a.m. MDT each day, including weekends. During this time, traffic will be re-routed through Radium, via Highway 93 and Highway 95.
The highway will be completely open for the easter long weekend with no delays, from Thursday, April 14 at noon until Tuesday, April 19 at noon.
The extended 24 hour closures will come into effect right after at noon on April 19, with no through traffic except for a select few of commuters with passes and emergency vehicles.
The highway will reopen at noon on Friday, May 20, in time for the May long weekend.
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It’s the third round of extended closures to the highway as a part of Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon Project.
The construction zone will be opened to local/commuter traffic, escorted by a pilot vehicle, during one half-hour period in the morning and one half-hour period in the afternoon. Similar escorts will be provided for local school buses.
Traffic that would typically pass through the Kicking Horse Canyon along Highway 1 will be re-routed along Hwy 93 and 95, through Radium.
Construction activities will be carried out 24 hours a day and cannot be performed safely in the presence of traffic or during shorter interruptions. The work being done in the canyon is challenging, according to
“The expectation is that the general public will use the alternate routes and observe the full closure,” said Mike Lorimer, executive project manager, during the announcement for the initial closures in January 2021.
“The traffic management regime is complex and we have worked with local stakeholders to identify their concerns. They recognize that this work is necessary and we will try to have it happen when there’s the least impact.”
The project will see the highway expanded from two lanes to four with a meridian divider, with approximately 4.8 km of highway being updated, with 13 curves realigned and wider shoulders along the highway to accomodate cyclists.
The closures are a part of the larger Alberta to Kamloops four laning project, with the Province committing $837-million to upgrading Highway 1 between Kamloops and the Alberta border over the next three years under Budget 2021.
Work is also being done on Quartz Creek Bridge just west of Golden, and construction wrapped up on the Illecillewaet Brake Check portion of the highway just east of Revelstoke this past summer.
The project is expected to last three years, with a maximum of 30 weeks of closures over that time.
