A nearly ten week long closure on Highway 1 through the Kicking Horse Canyon between Golden and the Alberta border town of Castle Junction is now underway.

It means all non-local traffic will be routed through Radium Hot Springs via highways 93S and 95, adding as much as 90 minutes to the drive.

Project Director, Mike Lorimer, says the detour is similar to what was in place between the Easter and May long weekends this year.

“Given the type of work we’re trying to do through the canyon, we try to do as much as we can while moving traffic through, that is obviously our desire, but the reality is there is certain work that just needs a full closure of the highway,” Lorimer said on NL Newsday.

“If you’ve ever driven through the canyon, you’ll know that it is extremely steep and constrained. We sort of save up that type of work that needs the closure and we’re now entering that window.”

The highway closure is set to last until Dec. 1, though Lorimer says the highway will be temporarily opened over the Thanksgiving long weekend next month.

“We’re doing the last 4.8 kilometres that was still two lanes. It really is just the old goat trail through the Kicking Horse Canyon and we’ll be replacing it with a modern, two lanes each direction highway with proper shoulders and a median divider,” he added.

“I think as folks who go through there were exposed to avalanches and rock fall, and this new highway is really going to make a huge difference and make that highway safer and more reliable down the road.”

Over the next nine-and-half weeks, local and commuter traffic will have access through the construction zone with prearranged permits twice a day. They will be escorted by a pilot vehicle during half-hour periods beginning at 7:00 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m.

Similar escorts will also be provided to school buses while emergency vehicles responding to an incident will be escorted through the area on short notice.

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