Vancouver Island business owners distressed over additional delays with more Highway 4 closures

Vancouver Island businesses are facing challenges again after Highway 4 was closed on Sunday night and is scheduled for daily closures starting Tuesday morning.

Highway 4 is the only paved route to the City of Port Alberni and its 18 thousand residents — as well as Tofino, Ucluelet and most communities in the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Nation. 

Kamal Sanghera, the CEO of San Group, says his mill and tiny home construction businesses have struggled to export products due to repeated closures. 

He says his employees commuting from Qualicum Beach, Nanaimo, and Coombs are struggling to get to Port Alberni — three of whom were stuck in their cars overnight for 14 hours following the recent weather closure  — and others have had commutes extended from 30 minutes to three hours via the highway detour. 

"It's a very big headache … We are working on different plans, but so far, we are stuck. We are stuck in a time loop."

Jolleen Dick, the CEO of the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce, says that businesses across different industries in the region have reported losing significant amounts of revenue due to the road closures, with some estimating losses between 60 to 80 per cent. 

Dick said she also has seen how difficult this has been on commuters who have to spend additional hours or days away from their families due to the closures.

"I know we'll get through it, but it's definitely hard on people and families."

Sanghera says while he is working to find alternative means to export their finished products, he hopes the province can address the concerns of businesses and the tourism industry to potentially look at building another highway route connecting western Vancouver Island. 

"It's been going on for the last two months like highway closed, highway open, fire season and with these [closures] right now," he said. 

'Complex' construction, says ministry

In a statement, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said the highway was shut at 4 p.m. Sunday due to high winds, which posed concerns for cranes suspending protective wire mesh at Cameron Lake Bluffs, a stretch of the highway where the hillside was scorched by a recent wildfire.

The mesh was lowered as a precaution, which increased the risk of debris falling onto the road. 

The ministry says it delayed the planned closure on Monday morning to allow overnight traffic to pass through. While closures were set to begin at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, the province said in a statement that the high winds did not allow rock scaling work to begin at Cameron Lake Bluffs.

"Sustained wind in the afternoon prevented the scalers from being able to safely work on the rock," the statement read. "Work will commence Tuesday morning when winds are expected to subside."

Starting Tuesday, Highway 4 will be closed twice daily from 9 to 11 a.m. and from 1:30 to 5 p.m. to allow crews to begin the rock scaling work. 

Drivers travelling on the highway can expect single-lane alternating traffic on weekends and weekdays before 9 a.m., from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and after 5 p.m.

"Given its complex nature, rock scaling must be completed during good weather, before winds and rains pick up in the fall. Now is the most predictable weather to ensuring this step can be completed as quickly as possible," said the ministry in its statement.

"This work is required before the highway can be safely reopened to two-way traffic, expected by mid-August."

An alternative gravel-road route between Lake Cowichan and Port Alberni remains open. 

'Find an alternative'

Sanghera says many of his mill products and fully-constructed tiny homes cannot be taken over the alternative road due to concerns about damage.

Instead, he's looking to the water as an alternative option. 

"We are in the process to put a barge ramp in Port Alberni, [but] that process is not going to happen overnight," said Sanghera, who is also planning late-night highway deliveries with trucking companies. 

But barge transportation is not financially feasible when used for his business alone, he says. He says he plans to offer the service to other Port Alberni businesses, including mills and fishing companies. 

Sanghera says even with the backup option, highway transport is the most reliable way to get products and visitors in and out of the city. 

He hopes the province will listen to business owners and tourism operators to consider a second highway route.  

"Everything is bottlenecked …  It's stuck right now … You have to find an alternative to get out of the valley or do something different," he said. 

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said in a statement there had been "extensive consultation work" with local businesses, governments and First Nation communities regarding the Highway 4 closures. 

"The ministry's priority is to ensure the supply chain for essential goods and services continues to reach communities," It said.