The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is reminding travellers that Highway 1 east of Golden will be closed from noon on Tuesday, April 19 until noon on Friday, May 20, as construction on the Kicking Horse Canyon continues.

Those looking to travel between Golden and Lake Louise will have to take a detour along highways 95 and 93s, through Radium, which can add up to 1.5 hours of travel time.

Roadside signs will provide advance notification of the closure and there will also be signs on the alternative routes. Drivers are advised to use caution and watch for wildlife, school children and school buses while travelling the alternative routes.

It鈥檚 the third round of extended closures to the highway as a part of Phase 4 of the Kicking Horse Canyon Project.

The highway will be closed for up to 30 weeks total throughought the three year long project, that will see the highway expanded from two lanes to four with a meridian divider, with approximately 4.8 km of highway being updated, with 13 curves realigned and wider shoulders along the highway to accomodate cyclists.

The construction zone will be opened to local/commuter traffic, escorted by a pilot vehicle, during one half-hour period in the morning and one half-hour period in the afternoon. Similar escorts will be provided for local school buses.

Traffic that would typically pass through the Kicking Horse Canyon along Highway 1 will be re-routed along Hwy 93 and 95, through Radium.

Construction activities will be carried out 24 hours a day and cannot be performed safely in the presence of traffic or during shorter interruptions. The work being done in the canyon is challenging, according to

鈥淭he expectation is that the general public will use the alternate routes and observe the full closure,鈥� said Mike Lorimer, executive project manager, during the announcement for the initial closures in January 2021.

鈥淭he traffic management regime is complex and we have worked with local stakeholders to identify their concerns. They recognize that this work is necessary and we will try to have it happen when there鈥檚 the least impact.鈥�

The closures are a part of the larger Alberta to Kamloops four laning project, with the province committing $837-million to upgrading Highway 1 between Kamloops and the Alberta border over the next three years under Budget 2021.