Major Burnaby HWY 1 off-ramp set to reopen; nightly closures, repairs continue

A major thoroughfare in Burnaby, closed for repairs and safety improvements since July, is expected to reopen Tuesday — later than planned, and with periodic closures continuing for several more weeks.

In late August, DriveBC confirmed the westbound Kensington Avenue off-ramp on Highway 1 would not reopen at the end of the month as the provincial Ministry of Transportation had promised.

The work to address “pavement settlement issues” was given nine more days to complete.

Now at the deadline, DriveBC says it is scheduled to reopen at 11 p.m.

1130 NewsRadio Traffic Reporter Alex Carrigan has learned the site will close nightly from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. from Sept. 10 to Oct. 31.

Carrigan says when the closure began, it caused significant delays.

“It didn’t take long for traffic to normalize for commuters to get away from that using either Gaglardi or Willingdon, but the big issue was the new traffic that didn’t know people would take that route every day. They adjusted very quickly. Some of the weekend commuters, especially, were very surprised by that — and when it first happened during the first week of July, we did see a few more crashes,” he said.

He says the off-ramp was built on swampland, and the pavement had become bumpy for drivers, necessitating repairs. Carrigan adds that the summer months were ideal for the work to take place.

“This was the time to get it done. Sure, they could have been doing it a little bit more overnight, but this was the time for that work to get done, and they wanted to do it right now.”

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