Drivers travel through the construction zone on the Malahat this past spring.
Drivers will once again see delays on the Malahat as construction crews start blasting work after the long weekend.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said now that the summer peak travel period is over, they will be reducing the Malahat to one lane in each direction between Aspen Road and Shawnigan Lake Road.
The single lanes will be in effect until the May long weekend next year. The ministry said this will ensure blasting can be done safely and drivers will have consistent lanes during the winter months when visibility can be reduced due to the weather.
Drivers should expect delays of up to 20 minutes during construction. The ministry is reminding drivers to watch out for works, obey the construction speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour and use both lanes up the merge point. After the merge point, drivers should use the zipper-merge, which means they should alternate when merging.
Traffic will be stopped intermittently for blasting but the ministry said this will happen outside of peak times, which are 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. southbound and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. northbound.
Alexa Huffman
