Coquihalla Highway

ARTICLE CONTENTS:  |  Links to Other Sites
Coquihalla Highway is the largest of 4 routes connecting the Vancouver area with interior centres. Built to enhance regional tourism and to lighten traffic on the busy trucking routes, the 303 km, 4-lane highway has 3 segments. The 115 km section between Hope and Merritt follows earlier cattle trails (1876), the Kettle Valley Railway (1913-59) and oil and gas industry pipelines (begun 1958) through the BC Cascade Mountains, following the Coquihalla and Coldwater Rs (Coquihalla is a Halkomelem Salish name meaning "stingy").

The section, with 38 overpasses, a 300 m snow shed and many other avalanche control installations, a steelhead fishery diversion and highway park facilities, was built on an accelerated schedule and opened in May 1986 amid controversy. A public inquiry found that the highway cost two-thirds more than the budgeted $250 million. The Coquihalla section is the only highway in BC with a toll. The 80 km highway between Merritt and Kamloops, with 8 bridges and 6 underpasses, opened in Sept 1987, and a 108 km section from Merritt to Kelowna opened in Oct 1990.

The Coquihalla's wildlife control program is unique in BC. Fences, gates, underpasses and even an overpass, keep migrating deer, moose and other wildlife away from traffic.

Coquihalla Highway
Coquihalla Highway
The Coquihalla follows the old cattle trails in BC (Corel Professional Photos).

Author PETER GRANT


Links to Other Sites
District of Hope
The District of Hope website offers local news and information for residents, businesses, and visitors. Also features a historical timeline and a selection of online maps.

Coquihalla Highway
An interactive map of the Coquihalla Highway. Click on the numbers for more information about the history and geography of this mountainous highway. From the “Canadian Geographic” website.

0
0
Absolutely free, with over 40,000 articles in French and English, The Canadian Encyclopedia is the ultimate online resource for all things Canadian, from history, sports, arts, science, technology, and much, much more. Get started at www.TheCanadianEncyclopedia.com
Feature Articles
Shawnadithit: Last of the Beothuk

Shawnadithit grew anxious waiting for her uncle, Longnon, to return to camp at the junction of Badger Brook and the Exploits River, deep in the wilds of Newfoundland...

INSIDE TCE

Gallery
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Interactive Resources
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
Canucklehead
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
Timeline
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
100 Greatest Events
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.