British Columbia Highway 1A
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

There are many roads in the southwestern part of
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
and Vancouver Island that were designated as Highway 1A. These roads were sections of the original 1941 route of Highway 1 before its various re-alignments, and are used today as service routes and frontage roads. The "B.C. Highway 1A" designations were removed from these sections by the province between 2005 and 2010, although signage remains along some of the route and the designation on some maps.


Vancouver Island


North Cowichan

A long segment of highway in
North Cowichan North Cowichan (Canada 2021 Census population 31,990) is a district municipality established in 1873 on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. The municipality is part of the Cowichan Valley Regional District. North Cowichan is noted for ...
and
Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...
designated as Highway 1A. It starts in the south at the intersection of Highway 1 and Mount Sicker Road, the Highway follows Mount Sicker Road and Chemainus Road east for to an intersection with Crofton Road, which provides access to the community of Crofton. Chemainus Road and Highway 1A turns northwest, and goes for through
Chemainus Chemainus is a community within the municipality of North Cowichan in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famou ...
to the intersection with Roland Lane, where it subsequently turns west to meet the Trans-Canada Highway on the south end of Ladysmith. This route was the original ''Island Highway'' prior to the opening of the existing Trans-Canada Highway, which was constructed to bypass the Chemainus area in 1950.


Greater Victoria

Since 1941, Highway 1A went from Victoria to Kelsey Bay, ending at the wharf. By 1960, Highway 1 ended at Nanaimo's Departure Bay Ferry terminal. A 16 km (10 mi) long segment of highway in
Greater Victoria Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region) is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) ...
was designated as Highway 1A. It started in Victoria at the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Government Street, following Gorge Road West for 5 km (3 mi) until it reached an intersection at Admirals Road, and crossed the Craigflower Bridge. Highway 1A then proceeded west along the Old Island Highway for 5 km (3 mi) to Goldstream Avenue. Highway 1A continued onto Goldstream Avenue and proceeded west through downtown Langford for 6 km (4 mi) to its termination at Highway 1 just short of
Goldstream Provincial Park Goldstream Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is known for the annual fall salmon runs in the Goldstream River, and the large numbers of bald eagles that congregate to feed at that time. The total size of the pa ...
. This route was the original Island Highway prior to the opening of the existing Trans-Canada Highway route in 1955 and 1956.


Lower Mainland

Until the Highway 1 Freeway (originally the "401") was built in the mid 1960s, much of the Fraser Highway was part of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
. It was built along the route of
Old Yale Road The Old Yale Road is a historic early wagon road between New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada and Yale, British Columbia, and servicing the Fraser Valley of the British Columbia Lower Mainland in the late 19th century and into the early 20th ...
, which was first built in 1874 between
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
and
New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...
. The Fraser Highway route was designated as Highway 1 from 1941 to 1972 while the new freeway was designated as
Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...
until 1972. In 1973, the freeway route became Highway 1 while the Fraser Highway became Highway 1A. In 2006, Highway 1A was decommissioned between Downtown Vancouver and Abbotsford, with a segment of Highway 1A between
West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...
and
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
remaining, but
concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
with Highway 99 for its entirety; the 1A designation was eventually deemed redundant and dropped in 2016.


Route description

Highway 1A began at Highway 1 (Exit 13) in West Vancouver and shared the alignment with Highway 99 along Taylor Way, Marine Drive, the
Lions Gate Bridge The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipali ...
and the
Stanley Park Causeway Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
through
Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...
to
Georgia Street Georgia Street is an east–west street in the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Its section in Downtown Vancouver, designated West Georgia Street, serves as one of the primary streets for the financial and central busin ...
the West End and
Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. It occupies most of the north sh ...
. Highway 99 diverges south along Howe Street (northbound Highway 99 uses Seymour Street), and Highway 1A shared long concurrency with Highway 99A. The route followed the
Georgia Viaduct The Georgia Viaduct is a twinned bridge that acts as a flyover-like overpass in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It passes between Rogers Arena and BC Place Stadium and connects Downtown Vancouver with Main Street and Strathcona. Histo ...
out of downtown to Main Street (westbound traffic used Dunsmuir Street) to Main Street. It then followed Kingsway through
East Vancouver East Vancouver (also called "East Van" or "the East Side") is a region within the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Geographically, East Vancouver is bordered to the north by Burrard Inlet, to the south by the Fraser River, and to the ...
and
Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
to
New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...
, where it followed 10th Avenue (which forms the boundary between Burnaby and New Westminster) and McBride Boulevard. It crossed the
Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...
along the
Pattullo Bridge The Pattullo Bridge is a through arch bridge that crosses the Fraser River and links the city of New Westminster to the city of Surrey in British Columbia. It was named in honour of Thomas Dufferin Pattullo, the 22nd Premier of British Columbia. ...
into
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, where the roadway became the King George Highway (renamed ''King George Boulevard'' in 2009). Highways 1A and 99A diverged with Highway 1A following the Fraser Highway southeast intersecting Highway 15 before reaching Highway 10 in
Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...
. Highway 1A briefly left Fraser Highway (which passes through downtown Langley), following the Langley Bypass and a short concurrency with Highway 10 to
Glover Road Glover Road is a primary road in Langley, British Columbia which runs from southwest to northeast North-South from the Fraser Highway in downtown Langley to the Fraser River in Fort Langley, travelling over British Columbia Highway 1 and thro ...
, before rejoining Fraser Highway. Highway 1A continued southeast to
Highway 13 The following roads may be referred to as Route 13 or Highway 13. For a list of roads named A13, see List of A13 roads. International * Asian Highway 13 * European route E13 * European route E013 Afghanistan *The Kabul–Behsud Highway - ...
at Aldergrove (in
Langley Township The Township of Langley is a district municipality immediately east of the City of Surrey in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It extends south from the Fraser River to the Canada–United States border, and west of the City of Abbotsford. ...
), and continued into Abbotsford where it terminated at Highway 1 (Exit 83), just east of Mount Lehman Road. Its total pre-2006 length was . With the decommissioning of the Highway 1A designation, the original Trans-Canada Highway route is now known merely as the Fraser Highway between Surrey to Abbotsford. The province of British Columbia still has a section of the Fraser Highway between Highway 15 and Highway 13 in its highway inventory; however the route is maintained by
TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
.


Major intersections

;Footnotes


Chilliwack

The Chilliwack-Rosedale Yale Road East section ran from the Trans-Canada Highway at the Vedder Road crossing (Exit 119), through
Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...
and Rosedale, and reconnecting to the Trans-Canada Highway along with Highway 9 (Exit 135). This section of what was originally the
Yale Road The Old Yale Road is a historic early wagon road between New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada and Yale, British Columbia, and servicing the Fraser Valley of the British Columbia Lower Mainland in the late 19th century and into the early 20th ...
was part of the original Trans-Canada Highway route until the completion of the "401" Freeway section in the 1960s. In 2005, the City of Chilliwack posted signage along the Yale Road East section designating it as the ''"Trans-Canada Parallel Route"''.


Kicking Horse Pass

A former section of Highway 1A exists along the former ''Kicking Horse Trail'', the original road between Lake Louise and
Golden Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...
that opened in 1926. When the Trans-Canada Highway was realigned in 1962, the segment became Highway 1A. It began at Highway 1, west of the Alberta border in
Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordered ...
and meandered eastward through
Kicking Horse Pass Kicking Horse Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff national parks. Divide Creek forks onto both s ...
to Lake Louise. The route is now closed to vehicle traffic and is part the Great Divide hiking trail.


References

{{Streets in Vancouver 001A 001A Former segments of the Trans-Canada Highway 001A Transport in Abbotsford, British Columbia Transport in Chilliwack