Canada grants exemption for commercial drivers in British Columbia

July 21, 2023

•

Essential rock scaling along Highway 4 on Vancouver Island in British Columbia necessitates an hour-of-service exemption for commercial vehicles in Canada to ensure routes are completed safely.

Drivers are exempt from daily driving and on-duty time limits; mandatory off-duty time; and daily off-duty time on trips that:

Traverse the closure on Highway 4 at Cameron Lake Bluffs or use the designated detour route.
Could have been completed under normal driving conditions without requiring any HOS exemptions.

According to Canadian officials, this slope stabilization is critical to ensuring long-term safety.

“This is a crucial step to ensure Highway 4 can fully reopen as soon as possible, and keep goods and people moving into our western communities,” Rob Fleming, minister of transportation and infrastructure, said in a statement. “We know this has been a challenging time for businesses and the tourism sector on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and we thank people for their patience as we work as quickly as possible to get this main corridor safely operating at full capacity again.”

Through the middle of August, the highway will be closed from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Pacific and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. There will be no closures on weekends.

Good weather and daylight hours are necessary to complete the work, said a news release.

Outside the closure window, single-lane-alternating traffic is available for residents, travelers and commercial traffic.

⚠️ REMINDER – #BCHwy4 will be CLOSED between at Cameron Lake from 9 to 11:30AM and 1:30 to 5PM on weekdays for slope stabilization work.#PortAlberni #VanIsle #Tofino #Uclulet

ℹ️ Updates here: https://t.co/KL3tJ3jkwJ
ℹ️ Detour and information here: https://t.co/7g2R3EBEug pic.twitter.com/oSjfIoe1T7

— DriveBC VI (@DriveBC_VI) July 19, 2023

Oversized loads requiring a permit are required to take the detour route between Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan.

The exemption expires upon completion of the slope stabilization project at Cameron Lake Bluffs or upon repeal by the director of commercial vehicle safety and enforcement.

Updated road conditions are available on the DriveBC website. LL