British Columbia Road Map

Description:
This map shows cities, towns, highways, main roads, secondary roads, rivers, lakes, national parks, and provincial parks in British Columbia.

Roads in British Columbia: An Infrastructure Overview

British Columbia's road network forms a critical component of Canada's transportation infrastructure. The province contains approximately 1,039 kilometers (646 miles) of the Trans-Canada Highway, which serves as the backbone of its highway system. This section begins near the Alberta border at Kicking Horse Pass and extends to Horseshoe Bay on the mainland, continuing on Vancouver Island from Departure Bay to Victoria.

The mountainous terrain of British Columbia presents unique challenges for road construction and maintenance. The province features several notable highways, including Highway 99 (the Sea to Sky Highway), which stretches 377 kilometers (234 miles) from the US border to near Cache Creek. In 2006, The Guardian newspaper recognized this scenic route as one of the world's top five road trips.

Statistical Overview and Management

British Columbia's Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure maintains a Traffic Data Program that monitors traffic patterns throughout the province. This data collection is essential for planning, designing, constructing, and operating the road network. The ministry employs performance measures such as pavement condition ratings, bridge condition assessments, and maintenance costs per lane kilometer to evaluate infrastructure quality.

Safety remains a priority on British Columbia's highways. Between 2013 and 2023, the province recorded comprehensive statistics on motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities. In 2019, the government began implementing automated speed enforcement systems, installing 35 cameras at high-risk locations to reduce speeding violations and traffic-related deaths.

By 2050, the Ministry plans to upgrade the Interior Highway 1 between Kamloops and Alberta to a four-lane expressway with a speed limit of 100 km/h, addressing increasing traffic demands and improving safety standards across this vital transportation corridor.