The Malahat Safety Improvement Project is scheduled to be completed by the end of October 2018.
The $34-million Malahat safety project is scheduled to be completed at the end of October, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
According to to the ministry, the Malahat Safety Improvements project is now more than 95 per cent complete. Crews have finished overnight paving on the highway and are now working on the line painting and barrier installation.
Approximately 95 per cent of the roadside barriers are in place and 50 per cent of the median barriers along the three-kilometre stretch have been installed. Crews are adding additional lighting to the new access roads to improve visibility for drivers turning on and off the Malahat highway.
Over the next week, there will be overnight line painting. If the weather is good, the fourth lane should be painted and open between Aspen Road and Shawnigan Lake Road by end of the month or first week of October. The entire project, including the cleanup, is set to be finished by the end of October.
The safety improvements that will be done include:
- Expanding five kilometres of highway to four lanes with wider shoulders
- Installing three kilometres of median barrier
- Providing improved and safer highway access through a frontage and backage road system with a new turnaround facility, and improved overhead lighting at intersections to help ensure safer access on and off the highway
“Improving the reliability of the Malahat is an urgent matter within the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The minister has identified finding an alternate route in case of an emergency as a pressing priority this fall. Staff are working towards a solution and understand the importance of keeping people and goods moving on southern Vancouver Island,” Brendan Phelps, public affairs officer with the Ministry of Transporation and Infrastructure, said in a statement.
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