Douglas Street is a

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. It is named after Sir James Douglas, the second Governor of the

Colony of Vancouver Island The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...

. A segment of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, 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 A ...

, the main part of Douglas Street runs approximately from Dallas Road on the

Georgia Strait The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington (state), Wash ...

to just north of Saanich Road, where the Trans-Canada curves westward towards the

Western Communities The Western Communities, also called the West Shore or Westshore are a group of suburban municipalities west of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They include Colwood, Langford, Metchosin, and The Highlands, as well as communities in uninco ...

. The

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

of Douglas Street and Dallas Road is the western end of the Trans Canada Highway, known as Mile 0. There is a small monument at the corner to recognize this fact along with a statue of

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, having had one leg amputated due to cancer, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for can ...

. North from the water, Douglas passes the Beacon Lodge, forms the western border of

Beacon Hill Park Beacon Hill Park is a 75 ha (183 acre) park located along the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait in Victoria, British Columbia that is popular both with tourists and locals. The park contains a number of amenities including woodland and shoreline trails ...

, and then passes behind the Empress Hotel and the

Royal British Columbia Museum The Royal British Columbia Museum (or Royal BC Museum), founded in 1886, is a history museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The "Royal" title was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and bestowed by Prince Philip in 1987, to coincide with a ...

. Douglas Street forms the main north-south route through

downtown Victoria Downtown Victoria is a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the city centre and the central business district for the City of Victoria, and the Greater Victoria regions. Characteristics The downtown area is an ex ...

. The annual

Victoria Day Victoria Day () is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Vic ...

Parade also marches down the street by starting at Mayfair Shopping Centre and ending at the

British Columbia Legislature The Legislature of British Columbia is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada), and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (which meets at the British Columbia Parliament Buildings). The Legislature ...

. Before the construction of the Patricia Bay Highway in the late 1950s, Douglas Street extended a further northward, ending at the current interchange of the Pat Bay Highway and Quadra Street. Two disconnected segments of this former extension, which were not overbuilt by the new artery, retain the name Douglas Street.

Trivia

*Douglas Street is the most expensive property in the 1982 edition of the game Canadian Monopoly.

External links

BC Highways - Highway 1Map archive at ViHistory website
with a 1953 Victoria and Vicinity Street Map showing the original route of Douglas Street. Roads in Victoria, British Columbia Urban segments of the Trans-Canada Highway {{BritishColumbia-road-stub