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Construction updates
- 2025
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May 9, 2025: Major road improvements - and detours - coming to Herd Road
North Cowichan is entering a busy road work season, including two significant projects that will see the closure of Herd Road between Bell McKinnon and Lakes Roads beginning May 20. This section of Herd Road will remain open to local traffic (via alternate routes) however through traffic will be required to detour. Bell McKinnon Road south of Herd Road will be closed to traffic. The closures will continue until mid-October. For details, please read this news release from the Municipality of North Cowichan.May 1, 2025: The intersection of Bell McKinnon Road and Herd Road will be rebuilt into a roundabout to improve traffic flow and safety. For more information, please read this notice from the Municipality of North Cowichan.
January 3, 2025: Bell McKinnon Road 24 hour closure now in effect, between Fairfield St and Norcross Rd. Access remains for local and emergency traffic only, transit and school buses, with anticipated finish January 31 2025. This is the start of planned phased closures to complete underground utility installations. See map here for closure information.
Mays Road and Norcross Road remain as local traffic only routes, and no heavy trucks. - 2024
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December 2, 2024: Herd Road at Bell McKinnon has reopened, with road work continuing in the area. Please note there may still be delays in access or use of this updated intersection. Another temporary road closure is scheduled at Bell McKinnon in early 2025. Details will be updated on this page when available.
November 20, 2024: Please note the re-opening of Herd Road at Bell McKinnon has been delayed, with update to come as soon as available.
October 31, 2024: A short extension to existing road closure will carry through November 20th, to accommodate pole relocation and final infrastructure upgrades to new traffic approach at Trans Canada Highway and Herd Road.
October 3, 2024: Temporary road closure between Herd Road and Highway 1 at Bell McKinnon will extend to the end of October to accommodate updates to public works at the previous Esso location and street lighting. Access to this area will remain limited to local residents only, with traffic detoured to Mays Road access off Highway 1 and Bell McKinnon.
April 9, 2024: Continued implementation by Hall Constructors of new sewer and watermain utilities on Bell McKinnon and Herd roads will result in a temporary road closure between Herd Rd and Highway 1 at Bell McKinnon. Access to this area will be limited to local residents only, with traffic detoured to Mays Rd access off Highway 1 and Bell McKinnon. This too may be subject to single lane alternating traffic, so please follow road signs and stay up to date by following this webpage. The closures will occur 24 hours, April through September 2024. See detailed information for local residents, businesses and people travelling through the work areas of the future Cowichan District Hospital here Herd Road Closure.
April 5, 2024: Want to see how the new Cowichan District Hospital is shaping up? Check out this nifty graphic to see how the northwest corner of the construction site will transform into the entrance of the emergency department (ED) in 2027. Improvements to emergency care starts here, with a covered, welcoming entrance, space to drop off patients arriving by car, and a shortened distance to main doors. Once inside, our top-notch care team will have 45 treatment spaces to attend to patients, up from 17 in the current CDH. This larger footprint means patients can be assessed at the triage desk and move on to the appropriate point of care within the ED. To learn more about the future CDH emergency department, watch a 15 minute presentation by the CDHRP #Nuts’a’maatAlliance Medical Director, Dr. Pat Gallagher, and Principal Architect, Shane Czypyha.
January 19, 2024: Levelling up at the CDH Replacement Project construction site - This snowy snapshot shows off progress on the new Cowichan District Hospital, under construction on Bell McKinnon Road in North Cowichan. The photo below features:
- The Quonset building – A temporary structure where program User Groups can test out full-scale mockups of their future program spaces to confirm layout and functionality in preparation for interior construction phases
- The steel framed Service Centre
- The future 4-storey Diagnostic & Treatment Centre (D&T), where outpatient services will be located; and
- Vertical rows of columns in the lower right foreground feature the foundations of the 7-storey Inpatient Unit (IPU) tower. Fun fact: Each floor in the IPU has a sun room facing Swuq'us (Mount Prevost) to the west, or Somenos Lake and Mount Tzouhalem to the south. This vital connection to the natural landscape outside will support healing care journeys for patients and a positive workplace for our wonderful care teams.
- 2023
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November 1, 2023: The last two slabs-on-grade for the Inpatient Unit (IPU) and Diagnostic & Treatment (D&T) will be completed this month. The first section of offsite civil work – storm and sanitary sewers, water line infrastructure – on Drinkwater Road is complete. Crews are also working on underground mechanical and electrical, and steel work for the Service Centre.
The team completed the first concrete slab pour for Level 1 of the IPU on October 30 and the remainder of Level 1 will be completed this month. Meanwhile, over at the D&T, the teams will be pouring the first slab for Level 3 this month.
October 4, 2023: At the new CDH, site crews building the future hospital honoured National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by wearing orange shirts, participating in Reconciliation events and raising awareness. Site crews and sub-trades also helped raise an orange shirt and red dress above the site on Saturday, in collaboration with community members and colleagues whose loved ones survived residential school.
September 20, 2023: Construction milestones for September included four more suspended slab* pours slated for the month, including levels 1 and 2 of the Diagnostic & Treatment Centre. The Inpatient Unit slab on grade* construction is underway and suspended slab formwork continues. Programs reviewing their spaces in preparation for the interior work continue to attend mock-up sessions at both CDH and new build site. By the end of September, we anticipate all foundations and the majority of slab on grade pours will be complete for the Diagnostic & Treatment Centre, Inpatient Unit, Lobby and Service Building.
*Glossary of construction terms:
Suspended slabs are "structural slabs" of concrete that have an occupied floor below them.
Slab on grade refers to a concrete slab poured on gravel, "at grade".September 5, 2023: As part of the Project, new storm sewers, sanitary sewers and water lines will be installed on Drinkwater, Bell McKinnon and Herd roads. Work will begin this fall and is expected to occur in phases. See detailed information for local residents, businesses and people travelling through the work areas of the future Cowichan District Hospital: 1) Offsite civil work; 2) Sanitary sewer installation
August 30, 2023: Construction teams are making amazing strides at the site on Bell McKinnon Road. We’ve started to come up and out of the ground as the crews work on the “slab on grade” portion of the Diagnostic & Treatment Centre. Check out our summer update to catch up on the progress to date and meet some of the people who share a passion for creating a new hospital that works for patients, staff and the environment. For those interested in a virtual tour of the new hospital, check out our flythrough video!
May 26, 2023: It’s springtime and construction on the new Cowichan District Hospital is in full bloom! Watch this short video and learn about the Nutsa’maat Alliance, the integrated team delivering this exciting project. See what the site crew has been up to so far in 2023 and find out how you can join the construction or healthcare teams who are working to build a community of care in a community that cares.
May 2, 2023: The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project team finished the largest concrete pour for the new hospital! With three 52-metre-tall concrete pumps and an average of 19 concrete trucks arriving at site per hour from 5 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., 30 workers unloaded an impressive 2,220 cubic metres of concrete!
This remarkable team even completed the pour five hours ahead of schedule. That's amazing! Thank you to everyone who contributed to this milestone and to the neighbours of North Cowichan for their patience as we completed this important work.
April 2023: Construction noise notice
The new Cowichan District Hospital construction project will see an increase in activity over the next few weeks. This includes a long day concrete pour planned for April 21 between 5 a.m. and midnight. Nearby residents and area road users will notice an increase in trucks and noise.
Council for the Municipality of North Cowichan has directed that staff use their discretion to enforce noise infractions and to allow for construction to proceed outside of the regular construction hours, when necessary, until the project is completed.
Bell McKinnon Road will remain open, but intermittent traffic delays may occur as concrete trucks access the site. Please follow all traffic signage and construction personnel directives.
Questions can be directed to newcdh@islandhealth.ca