Highway 4 will be closed between 8:30 a.m and 9 p.m. today as rock-scaling work continues to shore up the cliffs at Angel Rock which were destabilized during the Cameron Lake wildfire earlier this summer.

“We have significant boulders that are upslope of Highway 4 that are about a fridge in size for reference.” said Janelle Staite, a regional deputy director with the Ministry of Transportation. “We need to bring those down in a very safe and controlled manner.”

A detour from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni is available for drivers during the closure. Once Highway 4 reopens later tonight Saite says that people should be prepared for delays.

“Last week, it took about two hours to fully get the queues of traffic to clear and we do anticipate seeing similar volumes tonight,” she said, a “So just allow some time for those delays and for those closures to clear.”

Staite says that today’s work is a critical milestone to getting Highway 4 fully open by the Labour Day weekend.

The highway will also remain closed on weekdays between 9 .a.m. and 5 p.m. with an opening to flush traffic between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Listen to CHLY’s report below: