Highway 1 westbound exit in Vancouver closed for another week

The closure of an off-ramp onto East 1st Avenue from Highway 1 in Vancouver will be closed for construction for an extra week.

DriveBC says it will not be accessible until July 20.

The extended closure is due to ongoing construction.

The ongoing shutdown of the Kensington Avenue exit in nearby Burnaby is also creating delays in the area. That exit not expected to reopen until late August.

With the closures, westbound drivers have three other opportunities to exit Highway 1 in between those two closed exits: Grandview Highway, Willingdon Avenue, and Canada Way.

1130 NewsRadio’s traffic team says it is not unusual to see delays in that area during the morning hours on Highway 1 through Burnaby and Vancouver, especially with the closures in effect.

Dave Earle, president of the BC Trucking Association, says when road work projects like this increase, it’s not always possible for drivers to stick to their schedules.

“When highways close or disasters happen, we just adapt,” said Earle.

“But what ends up happening is those drivers end up working those longer hours, and if they time out, deliveries get moved from one day to the next.”

Road work projects like these cause problems in getting things where they need to go.

“While it is an inconvenience for all of us, this is a significant issue for drivers who are paid to get goods to where they need to go,” he explained.

“It can have serious knock-on effects on goods movements.”