Drivers will be able to travel on Highway 1 through the Kicking Horse Canyon again beginning Friday, Nov. 25, at 6 a.m. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced the route’s early reopening in a press release on Nov. 23.
The transportation route outside Golden closed early in the fall of 2022 and was not expected to reopen until the new year. Now the ministry says drivers can expect to use the new bridges and viaducts through the canyon later this week.
“As winter approaches, this is reassuring news for residents and travellers passing through Kicking Horse Canyon. Investments in road infrastructure help keep communities safe and connected,” said Harjit Sajjan, federal Minister of international development.
When the highway opens, traffic will move onto the newly built infrastructure that will be the route’s eastbound lanes once the project is complete. The project is slated for completion in winter 2023-24, with the next stretch of full highway closures expected in spring 2023.
The ministry says two kilometres of new eastbound bridge and viaduct structures will be in use. Drivers will travel Bighorn, Frenchman’s and Blackwall bridges for the first time after the eastbound lanes at Sheep Bridge went into service earlier this year. Travellers will also drive along new eastbound lanes on the Lynx, Grizzly, Wolf, Elk, and Marmot viaducts. The new road passes beneath two major new rock cuts, including the new through-cut at Dart Creek.