Highway 1 through the Kicking Horse Canyon between Golden and the Alberta border town of Castle Junction will reopen at 6 a.m. this Friday, Nov. 25, a few days ahead of schedule.

In a statement, the government says all traffic on that stretch of highway will use nearly two kilometres of new eastbound bridge and viaduct structures for the first time, while construction moves to the new westbound lanes.

They say drivers will use the Bighorn, Frenchman’s and Blackwall bridges for the first time, adding to the eastbound lanes at Sheep Bridge that went into service earlier this year. They will also use new eastbound lanes on the Lynx, Grizzly, Wolf, Elk, and Marmot viaducts passing underneath two new “major” new rock cuts, including the new through-cut at Dart Creek.

“Travellers and commercial truckers are set to benefit from these significant upgrades through the Kicking Horse Canyon,” B.C. Transportation Minister, Rob Fleming, said.

“The old highway’s sharp corners are gone, with new viaducts and structures across sections of the canyon that improve the safety and reliability of this important interprovincial connection.”

The highway was shutdown to all non-local traffic at noon on Monday, Sept. 26, with the next full closure expected in spring 2023. There will still be brief day time stoppages on the highway and full overnight closures between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., though the hihgway will be open with no delays from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, 2023.

The ministry says when completed in winter 2023-24, the 4.8-kilometre section of narrow, winding two-lane highway through the Kicking Horse Canyon will be converted to a modern four-lane highway.

Updates on delays will be available online on DriveBC and on the Kicking Horse Canyon calendar here.