Starting today, Friday, August 25, the detour between kilometres 49 to 63 will be lifted. The chip seal is dusty with loose gravel. Sweeping will occur at the 36-76 KM mark.
Drivers must follow road signs and speed limits. If speed limits are not followed, it will damage the chip seal, your vehicle, or the vehicles around you.
Please drive responsibly for the safety of everyone including crews working on the road.
Starting Monday, August 21, there will be single-lane alternating traffic between kilometres 68 to 76.6, with expected wait times of 15 minutes or more. A pilot truck will be there to guide drivers through the construction zones.
Please be mindful and observe all posted speed limits and obey all control personnel and signs. Alternating traffic is only expected to occur for three to four days, depending on the weather.
The detour between kilometres 49 to 63 will still be in place during this time. Drivers must follow road signs and speed limits. If speed limits are not followed, it will damage the chip seal, your vehicle, or the vehicles around you.
The final stages of the Seal Coat placement and sweeping of kilometre 36 to kilometre 49 is underway, meaning that crews will be moving the Bamfield Main Road closure to start the next section of chip sealing Bamfield Main towards Bamfield.
As of 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 8, the detour between kilometre 36 and kilometre 49 will be removed and will start at kilometre 49 to kilometre 63.
The construction of kilometres 49 to 63 on Bamfield Main Road will be closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles and is expected to remain this way for approximately two weeks.
Traffic control will be up in sections between kilometres 36 and 49 for the final sweeping of sections and moving along with the work. Expect minor delays.
A reminder that between kilometres 36 to 49, the chip sealed road will be very dusty and have loose gravel at first. The crews are sweeping the chip sealed road to remove as much dust and loose gravel as possible. Please follow and obey the speed limit displayed on the Bamfield Main at all times.
Marked Road Closures on the Bamfield Main are subject to ALL TRAFFIC.
The road closure at 36 – 49 km has experienced traffic going around the barricades and trying to travel through the construction zone where crews are actively chip sealing the road.
This is an extremely dangerous act to do and we kindly ask all traffic to obey the road signs and barricades. Not only does this put everyone in danger, but it causes more work and delay for crews to complete their work chip sealing the Bamfield Main.
Chip Seal Status
36 – 49 kilometres is nearly complete with chip seal. The chip seals needs two days to set and before opening, the crews will clean and sweep the road to remove as much dust and loose rock as possible.
Once the road opens in the coming week at kilometre 36-49, it is open for all traffic. At first, the road will be very dusty and have loose gravel. Please follow and obey the speed limit displayed on the Bamfield Main at all times.
Please watch out for our next road update later this week or early next week.
The Bamfield Main detour for Chip Seal construction will change and relocate to kilometre 49, with traffic being detoured through North Central Main to kilometre 68 starting Monday, August 8.
Industrial traffic will be allowed through the work zone kilometres 49 to 63. However, traffic will be alternating, and delays could be up to 15 minutes.
A reminder to all crews going through the work site, the speed limit is 20 kilometres per hour through the entirety of the zone with no sharp turning on the seal coat. Please use four-wheel drive, as well. These items are necessary to ensure a safe work site and not cause damage to the road base before or after seal coating.
Important:
The speed when driving on the Bamfield Main Road should not exceed 60 km per hour, and drivers are recommended to slow down in bad weather conditions and required to slow down when construction equipment, flaggers, and crews are on the road. The RCMP will be monitoring for safe driving throughout the project and detour.
The Bamfield Main is very dusty during the hot weather conditions. Please drive with your headlights on and drive with extreme caution. The Bamfield Main has lots of wash board, please be prepared for your travels.