Tofino mayor Dan Law is calling for improved communications from the province after rainfall surprisingly shut down Hwy. 4 on Aug. 9.
A wildfire along Cameron Bluffs closed the highway from June 6-23 and it has been closed for maintenance daily as crews work to make the area safe.
Aug. 9 was seemingly the first closure caused by rainfall and the Ministry of Transportation explained that safe work procedures come into effect if 10 millimetres of rain falls in a 12-hour period and the road must be closed and crews must leave the area for a minimum of 24 hours due to the risk of falling debris.
“The Cameron Lake bluffs wildfire caused damage to the bluff, and rainfall has increased the risk of debris fall along the highway,” the ministry said. “This requires that all work be suspended and the highway be closed for observation.”
Law said many residents, including himself, were surprised to hear of the 10 millimetre threshold for an automatic shutdown and he’s calling on the province to communicate more effectively.
“The 10 millimetre rainfall safe work work shutdown was a surprise,” he said.
“We were not aware of that, certainly we are now. I think this is a case where our collective communities need clear, accurate and timely information so that we can adjust and plan and meet the challenges. In this case, I think it’s clear that the Ministry of Transportation can do better.”
He added local businesses are having a tough time due to the highway keeping some travellers away and surprise closures exacerbate the issue.
“Every time the highway shuts down suddenly, really without any forewarning, it really does impact our community and our businesses. Whether it’s visitors coming in or residents going out, it’s really tough. This one was a hard one,” he said.
“I’ve heard across the board that businesses are really working hard to be resilient, to find solutions, to work with the timing even though it is less than ideal, but these sudden changes really do hit the community very hard and I can see that impact carrying forward.”
He said MLA Josie Osborne was in Tofino on vacation at the time and immediately set up meetings with the district.
“She came out of vacation, recalled her staff from their time off to meet with us and to deal with this specific issue. I’m confident that the ministry of transportation is very much aware of our concerns regarding this specific closure and I’m sure we’ll see some improvements in messaging going forward,” he said.
He added that businesses had hopes to at least salvage the end of summer’s busy season with smoother highway sailing.
“I think right now businesses are especially feeling the hit. All spring and early summer, businesses had been looking forward to a bit of smooth sailing where they could make up their losses and as it continues on those possibilities diminish,” he said.
He noted work is being done at the Alberni Clayoquot Regional District level to lobby for an improved alternative road.
“There’s a collective regional push to get an alternate route reassessed and the province has committed to reviewing, reassessing the alternate route,” he said. “The ACRD has a transportation working group now to discuss this very issue and I know many of the local regional leaders will be meeting with ministry staff next month at UBCM for very high level discussions on this topic. I think going forward we’re going to see some movement. I’ve heard the commitment from the province and I know that our MLA is on it and working very hard on this so I expect some serious forward motion.”
Highway 4 east of Port Alberni will be closed for another full day as crews continue to remove large, hazardous boulders from the area. The highway will be fully closed on Thursday, Aug. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. More information can be found here.
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