British Columbia Highway 1A

Infobox road
state=BC
type=Hwy
route=1a
previous_type=Hwy
previous_route=1
next_type=Hwy
next_route=2

There are many roads in the southwestern part of British Columbia that are designated as Highway 1A. These roads are sections of the original 1941 route of Highway 1 before its various re-alignments, and are used today as service routes and frontage roads.

Route details

A 16 km-long segment of highway in the area of Victoria is designated as 1A. It starts in Victoria at the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Government Street, following Gorge Road west for 5 km until it reaches an intersection at Craigflower Road, just across a bridge into Esquimalt. Highway 1A then proceeds west along the Old Island Highway for 5 km to a junction with Highway 14 at Goldstream Avenue. Highway 1A turns onto Goldstream Avenue and proceeds west for 6 km to its termination at Highway 1 just short of Goldstream Provincial Park.

A 17 km-long segment of highway near Crofton and Chemainus carries the 1A designation. 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 2 km to an intersection with Crofton Road. Chemainus Road and Highway 1A turn northwest, and go for 15 km through Chemainus to an intersection with Roland Lane, then subsequently turn west-southwest to meet the Trans-Canada Highway just south of Ladysmith 60 m later, where the second 1A loop terminates.

A 73 km-long segment of road between Vancouver and Surrey also has the 1A designation. It starts in the north by sharing a 7 km-long alignment with Highway 99 from the Highway 1 interchange at Taylor Way over the Lions Gate Bridge to West Pender Street in Vancouver. It then shares an alignment with Highway 99A from Seymour Street in downtown Vancouver for 28 km all the way to 98th Avenue in Surrey, at which point Highway 1A diverges east. East of the diverge, Highway 1A is known locally as the "Fraser Highway". The two- and four-lane highway goes southeast for 9 km to its junction with Highway 15 in Surrey, then continues southeast for 5 km to a junction with Highway 10 in Langley. Another 15 km southeast and Highway 1A reaches an intersection with Highway 13 at Aldergrove. 9 km east of the Highway 13 junction, the 1A segment finally terminates at an interchange with Highway 1 just west of Abbotsford.

History

Until Highway 1 was built in the 1960s, much of Fraser Highway was part of the Trans-Canada Highway. It was built along the route of Old Yale Road, which was first built in 1875 between Yale and New Westminster.