The Highway 4 Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement project is now complete, making travel safer and more reliable for people who live and visit destinations on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Last Updated: July 14, 2023
The Highway 4 - Kennedy Hill Safety Improvements project contributes to a safer and more reliable connection between Port Alberni and the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The Pacific Rim Highway 4 is the only east-west corridor on Vancouver Island servicing the west coast communities of Ucluelet and Tofino as well as the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve at Long Beach. This is a critical route for moving goods, linking communities, and supporting a thriving tourism industry in the region.
The project is located adjacent to Kennedy Lake approximately 14km northeast of the Tofino/Ucluelet Highway 4 junction. The project started at the bottom/south end of Kennedy Hill at the TR19 Creek culvert, and continued up the hill towards Port Alberni for a distance of approximately 1.5km.
The safety improvements over the 1.5 kilometre project length included:
The final cost of the project was $53.96 million, including a provincial contribution of $40.5 million and includes $13.5 million in federal funding under the New Building Canada Fund.
The project was completed in spring 2023.
Factors that delayed completion included:
The ministry worked closely with Emil Anderson Construction to deliver this project. The Province engaged stakeholders and Indigenous communities to accommodate the changing scheduling needs of the project and avoid extended daily closures.
Community Information Sessions were held on January 23, 2018 in Tofino and January 24, 2018 in Ucluelet.
Approximately 134 people attended the two sessions. We received more than 70 pieces of feedback. The majority show support for the project.
Information session materials:
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gov.bc.ca/highway4kennedyhill
Contact us about the Highway 4 Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project.