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Your B.C. Government

Rural Transportation

Your B.C. Government is investing in safe and reliable transportation infrastructure across the province. These investments will ensure B.C.’s transportation network keeps pace with the needs of a growing population, and allow communities to capitalize on new economic opportunities.

What your B.C. Government is doing for Rural Transportation:

  • Your B.C. Government permanently removed the tolls on the Coquihalla Highway at 1:00 p.m. on September 26, 2008, saving travellers time and money. A passenger vehicle making a round trip twice a month will save $480 a year, and a commercial truck making a round trip once a week will save $4,800 a year.
  • 90 per cent of funding for road and bridge maintenance (in excess of $340 million) is for highway systems outside of the Lower Mainland.
  • In the last three years alone, your B.C. Government has paved 4,700 lane-kilometres of highway outside of the Lower Mainland – close to the equivalent of constructing a two-lane road all the way from Vancouver to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
  • $972 million will be invested in the Kicking Horse Canyon Project, upgrading 26 kilometres of Trans-Canada Hwy from the junction of Hwy 95 in Golden to the western boundary of Yoho National Park. Phases 1 and 2 have been completed.  Phase 1 involved $64 million in joint provincial and federal funding to four-lane 3.2 km of highway and replace the 45-year old Yoho Bridge with a new four-lane structure.  Phase 2 involved $143 million of provincial and federal funding to four-lane 5.8 km of highway and replace the Park Bridge with a new four-lane structure.  Work is now underway on the next phase, which will finish in 2011.
  • Launched the $600-million Sea-to-Sky Hwy Improvement project, increasing this road’s safety, reliability and capacity. The project is on time for fall 2009, and on budget
  • Completed the $144.5-million William R. Bennett Bridge, crossing Okanagan Lake. This was the most congested stretch of highway outside the Lower Mainland. Completed 108 days ahead of schedule and on budget.
  • Launched the $200-million first phase of the Cariboo Connector, initiated as part of a long-term plan to four-lane Hwy 97 between Prince George and Cache Creek.
  • Construction activity is proceeding along the entire Cariboo Connector corridor and by the end of 2009 approximately $200 million in projects will have been completed or be under construction.
  • $1.6 billion investment in 1,500 new, clean energy buses and related maintenance infrastructure to provide communities around the province with improved bus service, as part of the $14-billion Provincial Transit Plan.
  • As part of the Pacific Gateway Strategy, the Province has invested $30 million in the $170-million Phase I expansion of the Port of Prince Rupert. Phase 1 included a container terminal, wharf extension, three cranes and additional rail tracks.  Phase II of the project will include a $650-million expansion of the Port of Prince Rupert.
  • BC-CN Rail partnership made possible the Chicago Express service from Prince George, a new state-of-the-art wheel shop in Prince George, and $20-million intermodal facility in Prince George.
  • Invested $34 million to improve 33 airports across the province, through the Transportation Partnerships Program. Completed improvements include airports in Prince George, Kamloops, Cranbrook, Fort Nelson, Langley, Valemount, Terrace/Kitimat, Campbell River, Courtenay/Comox, Castlegar, Kelowna, Smithers, Princeton and Merritt.
  • As part of Budget 2009, the province is investing $20 million in upgrading and maintaining key resource roads that access remote communities and popular recreation sites and trails.

For More Information:
B.C. Transportation Projects
Transportation Projects in Northern B.C.
Transportation Projects in the Southern Interior
Transportation Projects in the South Coast
The Cariboo Connector
Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project
Gateway Program