This covers the western-most portion of the Trans-Canada from Victoria to the two BC Ferries terminals to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, and from there east.
Route of the Trans-Canada
Back in 1909, the town council of Tofino, declared that town to be the “western terminus of the Trans-Canada highway” which was not even built yet at that time. The sign remains today, confounding tourists visiting that scenic city.
When the route of the Trans-Canada Highway was set by Act of Parliament in 1955, it was routed to efficiently connect major population centres, so it included a ferry route from Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) to Nanaimo, and from there south to the provincial capital of Victoria. The route did not extend west to Tofino, which at that time did not even have a road
The Vancouver Island branch of Highway 1, known locally as the Island Highway (which continues north of Nanaimo as Highway 19). The original “#1” designated highway was granted in 1941, and connecting Victoria to Campbell River (actually, up to Kelsey Bay, a small coastal community just to the north).
In 1953. Highway 1 on the Island was shortened to terminate in the downtown core of the city of Nanaimo in 1953, with the section north of Nanaimo being re-numbered 19.
When BC Ferries took over the ferry route between Departure Bay in Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver in 1961, Highway 1 on the Island was extended to the Departure Bay ferry dock
Mile Zero, Victoria
The Trans-Canada begins in Victoria, British Columbia at the intersection of Douglas Street and Dallas Road (where the “Mile 0” plaque stands). This wood carved sign overlooks Dallas Park and the Strait of Juan De Fuca, looking south to the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.
Victoria to Nanaimo
The TransCanada Highway navigates through Victoria’s business district from the “Mile Zero” plaque along Douglas Street, which is the city’s major arterial road. There is a connection north to Sidney for the ferry (at Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal) to the mainland at Tsawwassen, and the Highway itself bends west through View Royal and Goldsteam (and past beautiful Goldstream Provincial Park) before getting out of the lower islands dense communities, and heading past Mill Bay over Malahat Summit.
The route passes though Cowichan Bay, Duncan, and Chemainus before continuing to Nanaimo and the ferry terminal to the mainland. In Nanaimo, Highway 1 then enters Departure Bay just north of Newcastle Island.
This route between Victoria and Nanaimo was upgraded to four-lane over the 1970s.
Construction began in 1993 on four main components:
- A new 128-kilometre inland highway from Parksville to Campbell River;
- A new 20-kilometre parkway that bypassed the downtown core of Nanaimo;
- Upgrading of the highway between Nanaimo and Goldstream Provincial Park;
- Upgrading of 11 kilometres of highway approaching Victoria to four-lane freeway and expressway standards.
The project included 90 new bridges, 150 kilometres of new highway and more than 80 kilometres of upgraded highway and many environmental features including wildlife fencing, passages for wildlife and equestrian use and the construction of fish habitats
Duke Point Ferry to Tsawwassen
Recent concerns about civic traffic congestion caused by the amount of ferry traffic passing through/near downtown Nanaimo, to get to the ferry terminal has created a need for a second terminal away from downtown Nanaimo.
The Duke Point Ferry has its own exit from the Trans-Canada #1 and gives mainland-bound travellers the option of arriving at the mainland on the North Shore (with good access to Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby) or to Tsawwassen (with access the rest of the Lower Mainland, the Fraser Valley and the Trans-Canada Highway to points east.