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History of the Trans-Canada across British Columbia

The overall status of the highways in BC is good, with significant portions of the route of the #1 Trans-Canada between Victoria and Alberta border twinned. The Vancouver Island sections outside of Victoria's Inner Harbour are twinned. The Fraser Valley portion of the #1 has long had the Coquihalla #5 as a high-speed option.

Importantly, the section between Kamloops and the Alberta border a long-term priority for the BC Government. They have been improving the level sections of highway with passing lanes (where space-constrained by nature) or full-out twinning, and replacing two-lane bridges with 4 lane ones in anticipation of roadway upgrades.

The 4 km section east of Golden (so curvy and steep it has a 40 km/h speed limit) is set for an upgrade in 2017-2019 at a cost of $450 million.

While the Mountain Parks are a federal responsibility, and preliminary work underway in Yoho, Glacier, and Revelstoke National Parks, taking advantage of lessons learned in Banff National Park, in terms of route selection, as well as nature and wildlife mitigation.

Here are some history notes, organized by Itinerary Segment (from west to east):

Victoria to Nanaimo

East →
Next →
• History: Victoria to Nanaimo (and Island Ferry terminals)
• History: BC Ferries and the Ferry Terminals

West Vancouver to Hope

• History: Sea To Sky (Highway 99), connecting Vancouver to Whistler and Lillooet
• History: Upper Levels Highway from Horseshoe Bay to the Second Narrows Bridge
• History: Bridges in and around Vancouver
• History: Highway 99 heading south to White Rock and the United States
• History: The Lower Mainland Route from Burnaby to Hope
• History: Bridges across and along the Fraser River

Hope to Kamloops (via #1)

• History: Trans-Canada Highway 1 in the Fraser Canyon between Hope and Kamloops
• History: Alexandria Bridge & Hells Gate

Hope to Kamloops (via #8 Coquihalla)

• History: Building the Coquihalls Highway

Kamloops to Revelstoke

• History: Through the Shuswap from Kamloops to Sicamous
• History: From Sicamous to Revelstoke

Revelstoke to Lake Louise (AB)

• History: Rogers Pass Route (Revelstoke To Golden)
• History: Big Bend Route (Revelstoke to Golden)
• History: Golden to Lake Louise

We wish to thank Judith Reid, BC's Minister of Transportation (in 2003), for providing a copy of Frontier to Freeway: a short illustrated History of the Roads in British Columbia which has been helpful in this research.

Other Resources

More Trans-Canada Highway History