This article lists all existing numbered highways in British Columbia, Canada.
The Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) runs from Victoria to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and then from Horseshoe Bay, through the Vancouver area, Abbotsford, Hope, Kamloops, Salmon Arm, and Revelstoke to Kicking Horse Pass on the BC/Alberta border. This is the major east-west route in the province.
The Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3) runs from Hope, then through Osoyoos, Castlegar, Cranbrook, right to Crowsnest Pass on the BC/Alberta border. This is a southern alternate route to the Trans-Canada, and runs very close to the Canada–US border.
The Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16) starts on the Queen Charlotte Islands. After a ferry ride to the mainland, it runs from Prince Rupert through Smithers and Prince George, and then meets the Alberta border at Yellowhead Pass.
The Lougheed Highway (Highway 7) is a major alternate route that runs from Vancouver to Hope, through the lower Fraser Valley.
The Okanagan Connector (Highway 97C) is a short but major route that connects the Okanagan Valley to the Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) at Merritt. 97C branches off Highway 97 at Peachland, about midway between Penticton and Kelowna.
The Island Highway (Highway 19) is an extension of Highway 1 on Vancouver Island. It runs from Nanaimo and provides access to all points northbound on Vancouver Island, including Parksville, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Hardy.
The Patricia Bay Highway (Highway 17) starts in Victoria and heads northbound as a freeway through Saanich to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal. Recently, there was a gap between the segments of Highway 17 (now filled in with the SFPR), as the Mainland portion was designated as Highway 17A. The new South Fraser Perimeter Road has been named as Highway 17, and presently is open in Delta and Surrey between Highway 17a and Highway 15.
Highway 99 starts as an extension of Interstate 5 at the Canada–US border in Surrey as a freeway until entering the city of Vancouver. There it becomes a series of various heavily signalized major city core thoroughfares, notably Granville Street and Georgia Street. After crossing the Lions Gate Bridge, the highway - now known as the Sea-to-Sky Highway, is a two-to-four lane route that accesses Squamish and Whistler, before veering east and meeting with Highway 97 north of Cache Creek.
The Coquihalla Highway/Southern Yellowhead Highway (Highway 5) is a freeway that bypasses the slower Fraser Canyon portion of the Trans Canada Highway, connecting the cities of Hope, Merritt, and Kamloops. The segment between Hope and Merritt was a toll highway until 2008. North of Kamloops, the route is known as the Southern Yellowhead Highway, and meets up with the main route of the Yellowhead Highway near the Alberta border.
Highway 97 is the longest highway in the province. The highway starts at the Canada–US border near Osoyoos. The highway, here known as the Okanagan Highway, passes through the major Okanagan Valley cities of Penticton, West Kelowna, Kelowna, and Vernon, before ending in Kamloops. From Kamloops, it is known as the Cariboo Highway, and passes through Cache Creek, Williams Lake, Quesnel, and ends in Prince George. North from there, it is known as the John Hart Highway, and ends in Dawson Creek. From there, the highway then is known as the famed Alaska Highway, and travels northwest through the province until it reaches the Yukon border.
List is current as of April 2014, according to the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation.
The following routes are maintained by the Ministry of Transportation as part of British Columbia's highway system, but they are currently un-numbered:
Atlin Highway
Bridge River Road (informally known as Highway 40)
Cecil Lake Road (informally known as Highway 103)
Coalmont Road
Head Bay Road
Hemlock Valley Road
Horsefly Road
Jesmond Road
Knight Street - Freeway section
Likely Road
Mission Mountain Road (often just "Mission Mountain")
Mount Washington Road (also known as "Strathcona Parkway")
Nazko Road (informally known as Highway 59)
Pavilion Mountain Road (often just "Pavilion Mountain")
Port Mellon Highway
Queen Charlotte City-Skidegate Road
Telegraph Creek Road (informally known as Highway 51)
Westside Road
Highways 2 (Klondike Highway) and 3 (Haines Highway) in the northwest corner of the province are part of the Yukon territorial highway system and are not listed here or designated as BC highways.
Although some editions of The Milepost identify the B.C. portion of the Haines Highway as Highway 4, this is not an official highway number for the route.
Although the Alaska Highway crosses the 60th parallel north, and thus the border with the Yukon, nine times (including six crossings between historic miles 588 and 596), the highway route number changes just once, between Lower Post, B.C., and Watson Lake, Yukon. The Yukon section east of here is maintained by Public Works Canada as part of the B.C. portion of Highway 97, while the B.C. section west of here is maintained by the Yukon Government as part of Yukon Highway 1.
The first two freeways built in British Columbia were given 400-series numbers, much like the 400-Series Highways in Ontario. Highways 401 and 499 were renumbered 1 and 99 respectively in 1973. The section of Highway 37 between Terrace and Kitimat was known as Highway 25 until 1986. In recent years, many routes have been devolved to regional and/or municipal authorities and have lost their official highway status, notably the Fraser Highway in the Lower Mainland (formerly part of Highway 1A) and West Saanich Road on Vancouver Island (formerly Highway 17A). Also King George Highway through Surrey was renamed by the City in 2010 to King George Boulevard. (formerly British Columbia Highway 99A). Some roads have informal highway numbers (e.g. 40, 51, 59) used by locals and are referred to by these numbers on provincial highway condition listings but are not signed as highways or listed as provincial highways on the Ministry of Transportation website.
