Vancouver Island’s Hwy 4 reopening welcomed, councillor says

After more than two weeks of being virtually isolated from the rest of Vancouver Island — the communities of Tofino, Ucluelet, and Port Alberni are about to be accessible again.

Highway 4 is reopening to single-lane alternating traffic this weekend after being shut down because of a nearby wildfire.

Tofino District Coun. Kat Thomas can’t wait for the tourists to start rolling in.

“It’s been pretty tough on everybody because our season, or summer season, starts May long weekend and so we were already staffed and ready for summer and everybody was here, so to have that stop has been very difficult on all of the businesses,” Thomas told CityNews.

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It’s been especially hard on seasonal workers who were hired, and then laid off because of the highway closure, she adds.

The province says its crews have been able to clear the highway of fallen trees and debris from above the highway, to allow the major thoroughfare to reopen.

“I feel pretty hopeful with having even just the single lane open, that we’ll still see our typical summer traffic.

“Because … we did just go through five years of intermittent highway closures, [due to highway upgrades] and stuff like that,” Thomas said.

Thomas says there could be some lingering problems once the highway is reopened.

She says many businesses will likely be short-staffed because many of the seasonal workers who were laid off have found jobs elsewhere.