Highway 1 through Kicking Horse Canyon is reopening to the public, just in time for the holiday season.
The highway will reopen on Friday, Nov. 25 at 6 a.m. to the public. It has been closed intermittently since April 2021 for construction to make the road safer, more reliable and more efficient for travellers.
Federal Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjans said this news should be reassuring for residents and travellers passing through Kicking Horse Canyon.
“Our government has invested more than $215 million in this project, which will help manage traffic flow, improve road safety and reduce travel times. We will continue to collaborate with our partners to invest in more projects like these that create jobs across the country and build more resilient communities,” he said.
The project made progress during the fall closures and is now ahead of schedule. When the highway opens, traffic will move onto much of the newly built infrastructure using the future eastbound lanes, while construction progresses on the new westbound lanes.
“Travellers and commercial truckers are set to benefit from these significant upgrades through the Kicking Horse Canyon,” said Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming. “The old highway’s sharp corners are gone, with new viaducts and structures across sections of the canyon that improve the safety and reliability of this important interprovincial connection.”
Close to two kilometres of new eastbound bridges and viaduct structures will be in use. Drivers will travel Bighorn, Frenchman’s and Blackwall bridges for the first time after the eastbound lanes at Sheep Bridge went into service earlier this year. Travellers will also drive along new eastbound lanes on the Lynx, Grizzly, Wolf, Elk, and Marmot viaducts. The new road passes beneath two major new rock cuts, including the new through-cut at Dart Creek.
Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon project continues to realign and widen 4.8 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway through the canyon, including work on four new bridges and nine new viaducts.
At times, the highway will still be experiencing closures. Here is a schedule of the closures.
KHCC Construction and Traffic Notification November 2022_MEDIA by Jen Zielinski on Scribd
The project is slated for completion in winter 2023-24 with the next stretch of full highway closures expected in spring 2023.
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