Trans-Canada Highway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
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| Route information | |
| Length | 7,476 km (4,645 mi)
Main route
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| Existed | July 30, 1962–present |
| Major junctions | |
| From | Victoria and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia |
| To | St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Location | |
| Major cities: | Victoria, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Greater Sudbury, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Moncton, St. John's |
| Highway system | |
The Trans-Canada Highway (in French: Route Transcanadienne) is a huge road system. It crosses all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast. The main part of this highway is about 7,476 kilometers long. This makes it one of the longest roads of its kind in the world. You can easily spot the highway by its special white-on-green maple leaf signs. Some provinces have slightly different signs.
The Trans-Canada Highway is actually a system with several routes. But when people say "Trans-Canada Highway," they usually mean the main route. This main route includes different highway numbers in each province. For example, it's Highway 1 in Western Canada and Highway 17 in parts of Ontario. This main road starts in Victoria and ends in St. John's. It goes through nine of Canada's ten provinces. It connects many big cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Montreal. One of its other routes connects to the tenth province, Prince Edward Island.
Other roads are also part of the Trans-Canada Highway system. However, they are often seen as secondary routes or separate highways. For example, Highway 16 in Western Canada is part of the system. But it's almost always called the Yellowhead Highway. Highway 1 in Western Canada is always called the Trans-Canada Highway. It has much more traffic and passes through more major cities. This is why Highway 1 is usually considered the main route.
The Trans-Canada Highway network crosses the entire country. It does not go into Canada's three northern territories. It also does not reach the United States' border. However, it is part of Canada's larger National Highway System (NHS). The NHS does connect to the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and the U.S. border.
Contents
How the Highway is Managed
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Canada's National Highway System is not controlled by the federal government. Each province is in charge of building and maintaining its own highways. This includes the parts of the Trans-Canada Highway within their borders. Western provinces like British Columbia and Alberta have agreed to use Highway 1 for the main route. They use Highway 16 for the Yellowhead route.
Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador also call their section Highway 1. New Brunswick uses Highway 2 for its part of the TCH. East of Manitoba, the highway numbers often change at each provincial border. In Ontario and Quebec, the TCH uses parts of existing provincial highways. These provinces use their regular highway signs. But they also put up the special maple leaf Trans-Canada Highway signs next to them. Because the TCH was made from existing roads, it likely won't have the same number across the whole country.
How the Highway is Built
The Trans-Canada Highway system does not have one national building standard. It was first built mostly as a two-lane road. It had only a few sections with multiple lanes or freeways. This is different from the Interstate Highway System in the United States. Because of this, the way the highway is built changes a lot from province to province.
In much of British Columbia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, the TCH is still a two-lane road. New Brunswick is the only province where its entire main TCH route is a four-lane freeway. In Quebec, most of the TCH uses the province's Autoroute freeway system. This means it follows freeways through most of Quebec.
Alberta and Saskatchewan have also made large parts of their TCH wider. Their entire Highway 1 and most of Highway 16 are now four-lane divided highways. However, they still have intersections where you stop at ground level. British Columbia is working to make its Highway 1 east of Kamloops a four-lane road. Right now, over half of the main Trans-Canada Highway is still a two-lane road. It has no bypasses, special interchanges, or many places to pass other cars. Only about 15 percent of the main route is a freeway.
Many parts of the Trans-Canada Highway that are not freeways go right through towns. These sections often become the main streets of communities. Many small businesses and traveler services are right next to the highway. This brings money and jobs to these towns, especially in the summer. However, all these businesses can cause traffic problems. This is because of lower speed limits, traffic lights, and crosswalks.
Freeway parts are rare compared to the total length of the TCH. They exist for long distances in British Columbia's Lower Mainland. Also, between Calgary and Banff, in Ontario and Quebec, where it uses other freeways. All of New Brunswick and the western part of Nova Scotia have freeways. Outside these freeway areas, the highway can be a fast four-lane road or a narrow, winding two-lane road. These winding sections can be dangerous and often close. In many cities, the main highway routes go through busy streets with many traffic lights. Examples include Victoria, Nanaimo, Kamloops, and Winnipeg.
The Trans-Canada Highway is not always the best way to travel between two cities. For example, most drivers between Hope, British Columbia and Kamloops use the Coquihalla Highway. This is a freeway that is shorter. Another example is that many long-distance drivers between Western and Eastern Canada go through the United States. They use the Interstate Highway System there. This is because the TCH through Northern Ontario is long, winding, and often closes.
Main Route Sections
British Columbia's Highway 1
The main Trans-Canada Highway is called Highway 1 in the four western provinces. The British Columbia part of Highway 1 is 1,045 kilometers long. It starts in Victoria and ends at the Alberta border. The highway first goes north along Vancouver Island for 99 kilometers to Nanaimo. This section is mostly a four-lane road with many traffic lights. After Nanaimo, it goes to the Departure Bay Terminal. From there, you take a BC Ferries boat across the Strait of Georgia to Horseshoe Bay.
From Horseshoe Bay, the highway goes through Metro Vancouver. It is a four- to eight-lane freeway here. Then it leaves the city and continues as a four-lane freeway east to Hope. At Hope, the Trans-Canada Highway leaves the freeway. It turns north for 186 kilometers through Fraser Canyon and Thompson Canyon to Cache Creek. This part is mostly a two-lane rural highway. Highway 5 offers a more direct freeway route between Hope and Kamloops. The Fraser Canyon route is more for scenic drives.
Near Kamloops, Highway 1 becomes a short freeway again. Then it goes through Kamloops as a four-lane road with traffic lights. From Kamloops, it continues east as a mostly two-lane rural highway. It has occasional passing lanes. It widens to a four-lane road in places like Salmon Arm and Revelstoke. The highway crosses two high mountain passes: Rogers Pass and Kicking Horse Pass. At Kicking Horse Pass, the highway reaches its highest point at 1,627 meters.
Highway 1 in British Columbia has four freeway sections. The rest of the highway is either a four-lane road with many traffic lights or a winding two-lane road. The freeway section through Vancouver is known for heavy traffic. It is one of the most crowded roads in Canada. The approach to the Ironworkers Crossing often has traffic jams. Further east, a section between Langley and Abbotsford is also often crowded. These problems happen because Highway 1 is the only major east-west road there. Also, the highway over Rogers Pass is considered dangerous. This is due to crashes, poor construction, and bad winter conditions.
Drivers can avoid the ferry and busy parts of Highway 1 in Metro Vancouver. They can use British Columbia Highway 17 (South Fraser Perimeter Road). This route goes from Victoria to Delta and Surrey using the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. This saves time and avoids traffic lights.
Speed limits on the mainland part of the TCH in British Columbia are usually 90-100 km/h. In towns, it can be as low as 50 km/h. On Vancouver Island, speeds are 50 km/h in cities, 80 km/h over the Malahat, and up to 90 km/h in rural areas.
The Government of British Columbia is trying to fix the traffic problems. They are widening the highway to six lanes in Abbotsford. They also plan to widen the entire highway between Kamloops and Alberta to four lanes by 2050. This will make it safer. Work is happening to widen the winding two-lane road in the Kicking Horse Canyon. This section often causes traffic jams. They are building new bridges and blasting rock to make it a 100 km/h four-lane highway. This work is expected to finish in 2023.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba's Highway 1
The Trans-Canada Highway through the three prairie provinces is 1,667 kilometers long. It starts at the British Columbia border and goes to the Ontario border. In Alberta, it runs east for 206 kilometers as Alberta Highway 1. It passes through Banff National Park, Lake Louise, and Calgary. This part of the highway is popular for tourism. The section through Banff National Park was one of the first in North America to have special crossings and fences for wildlife.
After leaving the mountains, it enters Calgary. Here, it is called 16 Avenue N, a busy six-lane street with many traffic lights. The Stoney Trail (Highway 201) was finished in 2009. It acts as a freeway that bypasses the Calgary part of Highway 1. For the next 293 kilometers after Calgary, the TCH is a four-lane expressway with few stops. Medicine Hat has several interchanges. Then the TCH crosses into Saskatchewan towards Moose Jaw. The highway is mostly a straight four-lane road.
The expressway continues 79 kilometers east to Regina. It goes around the city on the Regina Bypass, which was a very expensive project. Beyond Regina, it continues east for 486 kilometers. It crosses into Manitoba, going to Brandon and Portage la Prairie. Finally, it goes 84 kilometers east to Winnipeg. The southern part of Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway (Highway 100) is part of the TCH system. It bypasses the city with a mix of traffic lights and interchanges. Highway 1 still goes through central Winnipeg as a street with traffic lights.
Almost all of Highway 1 through the Prairie Provinces is a four-lane highway. The only true freeway sections are along the Regina Bypass, in Medicine Hat, and between Calgary and Banff. The entire highway is mostly free of stoplights. Traffic congestion is almost non-existent because there are bypasses around all major cities. These divided highway sections are also generally safe.
The speed limit is 90 km/h in national parks like Banff National Park. East of Banff, most of Highway 1 in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba has a limit of 110 km/h. East of Winnipeg, it is 100 km/h.
Alberta Transportation plans to make its entire Highway 1 a four-to-eight-lane freeway. This means replacing all intersections with overpasses. However, they have not set a date for this project.
Ontario's Highway 17 and 417
East of Winnipeg, the highway continues over 200 kilometers to Kenora, Ontario. At the provincial border, the highway changes from 1 to 17. It has a provincial sign and a Trans-Canada Highway sign. It continues as a main road across Northern and Eastern Ontario. It becomes a freeway near Arnprior, close to Ottawa. In Kenora, the TCH includes the main road through the city and the 33.6-kilometer Highway 17A bypass. This section of highway goes through the Canadian Shield, a rocky, forested area with many lakes.
Highway 11/Highway 17 goes southeast for 65 kilometers to Thunder Bay. Then it goes northeast for 115 kilometers to Nipigon. An 83-kilometer part of the TCH between Thunder Bay and Nipigon is called the Terry Fox Courage Highway. Terry Fox had to stop his cross-country run here. A statue of him was built to honor him. This highway is the only road connecting eastern and western Canada. In 2016, the Nipigon River Bridge broke, closing the TCH for 17 hours. The only other way was to go through the United States.
Highway 17 continues east from Nipigon for 581 kilometers along Lake Superior. Between Wawa and Sault Ste. Marie, the highway crosses the Montreal River Hill. This can become a traffic problem in winter due to steepness. At Sault Ste. Marie, the main route turns east for 291 kilometers to Sudbury.
The main route then continues east from Sudbury for 151 kilometers to North Bay. The northern route joins the main line here. It continues 339 kilometers to Arnprior, where it becomes a freeway and is called Highway 417. The freeway goes to Ottawa, passing through the city on Highway 417. This part is six to eight lanes wide. In Southern Ontario, the speed limit is usually 80 km/h on the TCH. In Northern Ontario, it is 90 km/h. Sections of Highway 417 outside Ottawa have a higher limit of 110 km/h.
Highway 17 and 417 are mostly free of traffic jams. However, the non-freeway parts often close due to crashes, especially in winter. It is seen as a dangerous route because of its old, winding two-lane sections. Since it goes through undeveloped, forested areas, crashes with animals are common.
Ontario plans to extend the 417 freeway to Sudbury. This would make the TCH between Ottawa and Sudbury a four-lane freeway. However, there is no money set aside for this yet.
The Trans-Canada Highway mostly avoids Canada's most populated area, the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario. This area includes Canada's largest city, Toronto. However, a small part of the Central Ontario branch goes through the edge of Durham Region.
Quebec's Autoroutes
From Ottawa, the Trans-Canada Highway continues as a freeway. It goes 206 kilometers east to Montreal. It is Highway 417 in Ontario and Autoroute 40 in Quebec. The TCH is called Autoroute Métropolitaine (or "The Met") as it goes through Montreal as a raised freeway. In Montreal, another TCH route joins the main line. The TCH then follows Autoroute 25 south. It crosses the St. Lawrence River through the six-lane Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel. Then it goes northeast on Autoroute 20 for 257 kilometers to Lévis (across from Quebec City).
East of Lévis, the TCH continues on Autoroute 20. It follows the south bank of the St. Lawrence River. It goes to a junction south of Rivière-du-Loup, 173 kilometers northeast of Lévis. At that junction, the highway turns southeast. It changes to Autoroute 85 for 13 kilometers. Then it becomes Route 185, a non-freeway road. Autoroute 85 starts again at Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!. The part from Autoroute 20 to Edmundston, New Brunswick, is about 120 kilometers long.
The Trans-Canada Highway in Quebec mostly follows the Autoroute System. These are always at least four-lane freeways. So, travel through Quebec is generally safe, fast, and without traffic jams. The only exception is the route through Montreal, which can have traffic. However, drivers can bypass the city on the tolled Autoroute 30, which is not part of the TCH.
The maximum speed limit on the Quebec Autoroute System (including the TCH) is 100 km/h. This limit is strictly enforced.
Quebec is working to widen the last 36-kilometer two-lane section of the TCH along 185 to an Autoroute. Once this is done, all of Quebec's main TCH route will be a four-lane freeway. This will also make the TCH a continuous freeway from Arnprior, Ontario, to Lower South River, Nova Scotia.
New Brunswick's Route 2
The Trans-Canada Highway enters New Brunswick and becomes Route 2 northwest of Edmundston. From Edmundston, the highway follows the Saint John River Valley. It goes south for 170 kilometers to Woodstock. Then it goes east for another 102 kilometers through Fredericton. Forty kilometers east of Fredericton, the highway crosses the river at Jemseg. It continues east to Moncton, 135 kilometers later.
On November 1, 2007, New Brunswick finished a 20-year project. They converted their entire 516-kilometer section of the Trans-Canada Highway into a four-lane divided highway. The speed limit is 110 km/h on most of its sections in New Brunswick. New Brunswick was the first province to have its main TCH route entirely as a four-lane divided highway.
From Moncton, the highway continues southeast for 54 kilometers to a junction at Aulac. Here, the Trans-Canada Highway splits into two routes. The main route continues to the Nova Scotia border as Route 2. Another 70-kilometer route, Route 16, goes east to the Confederation Bridge at Cape Jourimain.
Nova Scotia's Highway 104 and 105
From the New Brunswick border, the main Trans-Canada Highway route enters Nova Scotia at Amherst. Here, it becomes Nova Scotia Highway 104. Southeast of Amherst, the highway crosses the Cobequid Pass. This is a 45-kilometer tolled section. It ends at Masstown. Then it passes by Truro, 117 kilometers east of the New Brunswick border. Halifax, like Toronto, is a provincial capital that the TCH does not pass through.
Beyond Truro, the highway continues east for 57 kilometers to New Glasgow. Here it meets Highway 106. Then it continues to the Canso Causeway, which crosses the Strait of Canso to Cape Breton Island. From the Canso Causeway, the highway continues east. It is now called Highway 105 on Cape Breton Island. It ends at the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal at North Sydney.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Highway 1
From North Sydney, a 177-kilometer ferry route takes the highway to Newfoundland. This ferry is run by Marine Atlantic. It arrives at Channel-Port aux Basques. Here, the Trans-Canada Highway becomes Highway 1. It runs northeast for 219 kilometers through Corner Brook. Then east for another 352 kilometers through Gander. Finally, it ends at St. John's, another 334 kilometers southeast. The total length across the island is 905 kilometers. Most of the TCH in Newfoundland is undivided. However, sections in Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, Glovertown, and a 75-kilometer section from Whitbourne to St. John's are divided.
"Mile Zero" Markers
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There isn't one official starting point for the entire Trans-Canada Highway. However, St. John's has adopted this name for the highway section in the city. The end of East White Hills Road in St. John's is considered a starting point. The other end of the Trans-Canada Highway is in Victoria. It is marked by a "mile zero" monument. St. John's downtown arena, Mary Brown's Centre, was even named "Mile One Centre" because of the highway's starting point.
The use of "miles" instead of "kilometers" for these markers goes back to when the TCH was finished in 1962. This was before Canada started using the metric system.
Other Important Routes
Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16)
The Yellowhead Highway is a 2,859-kilometer road in Western Canada. It runs from Masset, British Columbia, to where it meets Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. It is called Highway 16 in all four provinces it crosses. It goes across Western Canada further north than the main TCH. It passes through fewer cities, with Edmonton being the largest. Other big towns on this route include Prince Rupert and Saskatoon.
The Yellowhead Highway is famous for going through Jasper National Park in Alberta. Here, it crosses the Continental Divide. It carries less traffic than the main TCH. So, it is almost always a two-lane highway in British Columbia and Manitoba. It is only partly a four-lane expressway in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Until 1990, the Yellowhead Highway had its own signs. Now, they mostly use the standard maple-leaf Trans-Canada Highway signs.
Northern Ontario & Quebec Routes
A 1,547-kilometer section of Highway 71 and Highway 11 between Kenora, Ontario and North Bay, Ontario is also part of the Trans-Canada Highway. This highway first goes south of the main TCH route between Kenora and Thunder Bay. It passes through Fort Frances near the U.S. border. Then, it runs with the main TCH (Highway 17). After that, it splits off to the north. This part goes through a huge, empty area of northern Ontario. This highway sees little long-distance traffic.
A much shorter 60-kilometer section of Highway 66 connects another northern TCH route to Quebec's Highway 117. This highway continues the TCH route to Montreal after connecting with Autoroute 15. The main Highway 11 continues south until it meets the main TCH route (Highway 17) in North Bay. Except for the southernmost parts, these highways are two-lane roads.
Southern Ontario Route
The southern Ontario Trans-Canada Highway route is more complex. It uses four different provincial highways. It is not a major long-distance road because it goes around a lot. It also completely avoids the Toronto area. It is a 671-kilometer alternate route to Highway 17 (the main TCH) between Sudbury and Ottawa. It passes through several major communities, including Orillia and Peterborough. Because it is closer to bigger towns, this part of the TCH has more traffic. It is made up of freeways, expressways, and two-lane roads.
Prince Edward Island Route
Another branch of the Trans-Canada Highway splits off the main line in eastern New Brunswick. This route connects to Prince Edward Island across the 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge. It crosses the central part of Prince Edward Island, including Charlottetown. Then it crosses back to the mainland on a ferry. This route is 234 kilometers long. It includes New Brunswick Highway 16, Prince Edward Island Highway 1, and Nova Scotia Highway 106. This part of the TCH has a fair amount of traffic. It is an important route for tourists. The Confederation Bridge itself is often seen as a tourist attraction. Most of this highway is a two-lane road. But some parts are built as two-lane expressways.
Bypass Routes
Two short bypasses are also part of the Trans-Canada Highway system. These include the 42-kilometer Perimeter Highway 100 around Winnipeg. This road offers a faster way around the city center. The other is the 34-kilometer Kenora Bypass (Highway 17A). This two-lane road goes around the town of Kenora to the north.
History of the Highway
Older Roads
Much of the Trans-Canada Highway's path was first explored to build the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1800s. The main TCH route later followed much of this railway path.
The Trans-Canada Highway was not the first road across Canada. In British Columbia, roads like the Crowsnest Highway and the Cariboo Highway existed before it. These were built during the Great Depression. Many early highways in British Columbia were gravel roads. They also had many ferry crossings over wide rivers and lakes. In Alberta, the road between Calgary and Banff was called the Morley Trail. It could be driven on starting in the 1910s. The first road over the Central Canadian Rockies to connect Calgary to British Columbia was the Banff–Windermere Parkway. It opened in 1922. Roads across the Prairies have also been around since the 1920s. A gravel road across northern Ontario (Highway 17) started being built in 1931. This section was mostly open by the late 1930s. But it was not fully finished until 1951. Even with gaps, vehicles could cross the country by taking ferries or trains around the unfinished parts.
Building the Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1949 approved the system. Construction started in 1950. The highway officially opened in 1962. This happened when the Rogers Pass section between Golden and Revelstoke was finished. This part of the highway replaced the old Big Bend Highway, which was the last gravel section. When it first opened, the Trans-Canada Highway was the longest continuous highway in the world. Construction on other parts continued until 1971. That's when the last gap on Highway 16 was completed. At that point, the highway network was considered finished.
Changes Since 1960
When the Trans-Canada Highway first opened, it was almost all two-lane. At the time, it was a big improvement over gravel roads. But soon, it was not enough for the growing traffic. So, provinces started building wider roads and freeways.
In British Columbia's Lower Mainland, the Upper Levels Freeway opened in 1960. This allowed the TCH to bypass downtown Vancouver. Between 1962 and 1964, Highway 1 was rerouted to a new four-lane freeway. This was between Vancouver and Chilliwack. The opening of the Cassiar Tunnel in 1990 removed the last traffic lights in Vancouver. This made the entire TCH through the Lower Mainland a freeway. The opening of the Coquihalla Highway in 1986 made much of the TCH through the Fraser Canyon less used. The freeway bypass shortened the drive by 90 minutes. However, the old route remained part of the TCH system. The Coquihalla project also rerouted Highway 1 (TCH) to a new freeway bypass around Kamloops.
In Alberta, between 1964 and 1972, the TCH was completely rerouted. It changed from a two-lane road to a new four-lane freeway between Banff and Calgary. This bypassed several towns. Between 1973 and 1990, the highway was made into a divided highway from Calgary to the Saskatchewan Border.
Between Ottawa and the Ontario–Quebec border, the TCH name was moved from the two-lane Highway 17 to the existing Highway 417 freeway in 1997–98. The old Highway 17 sections were given to local regions. In 1990, the two-lane Kenora Bypass opened. This gave drivers a way to avoid the busy town.
Starting in the 1960s, Quebec began building its Autoroute network. Many TCH sections were widened to freeway standards then.
Starting in 1987, New Brunswick began widening its TCH section to four lanes. Work to make the route a full freeway started in the late 1990s and finished in 2007.
The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge connecting PEI to New Brunswick opened in 1997. It replaced the ferry and was a big achievement.
Recent Changes (2000–Present)
In the early 2000s, the government thought about making the entire TCH system into divided highways. Some money was given to provinces for parts of the system. But the federal government decided not to do a full conversion. This was because some parts of the TCH had low traffic.
Before 2008, the highway changed in the Rocky Mountains from Banff National Park to Golden, British Columbia. A big part of this project finished in 2007. It opened 16 kilometers of new four-lane highway. Other smaller four-lane widening projects also happened in British Columbia. In Metro Vancouver, 37 kilometers of busy four-lane Highway 1 freeway were widened to eight lanes starting in 2012. This project is still going on. The goal is to rebuild the freeway to at least six lanes from Langley to Abbotsford by 2025.
The widening of the highway in Alberta's Banff National Park continued. Four-lane highway opened as far as the Highway 93 junction north of Lake Louise by 2010. Parks Canada finished widening the last 8.5 kilometers of Highway 1 between Lake Louise and the British Columbia border in 2014. This made the entire length of Alberta's main TCH route at least four lanes. Stoney Trail started being built in 2005. It could be used as a bypass around Calgary when its northeastern section opened in 2010.
During the 2000s, much of the TCH through Saskatchewan and Manitoba was widened. In 2019, the Regina Bypass opened. This rerouted the TCH around the city.
The 2010s also saw changes to other TCH routes. Ontario Highway 400 began to be extended towards Sudbury. This will make part of the Southern Ontario TCH route a freeway. Work on this project is still happening.
Edmonton is trying to make its city section of Highway 16 a six-lane freeway. They are replacing all traffic lights with overpasses. The project is expected to finish by 2026.
Even with these many widenings, over half of the main Trans-Canada Highway is still a two-lane road. Only about 15 percent of the main route is a freeway.
In 2012, a company installed free public electric vehicle charging stations along the main TCH route. This allowed electric vehicles to travel the entire length. This made the TCH the longest electric-vehicle-ready highway in the world at that time.
What's Next for the Highway?
There is no national plan to widen the Trans-Canada Highway. All planning is done by each province. However, the federal government helps pay for changes. Currently, there are five big highway projects on the Trans-Canada Highway Network.
Quebec is working to finish Autoroute 85. This will make the last two-lane section of the main highway in Quebec a four-lane freeway. As of 2021, only 7 kilometers of two-lane highway remained to be fixed.
As of 2021, Ontario was trying to extend Highway 400 to Sudbury. This will carry the Southern Ontario TCH route once finished. About 80 kilometers of highway still needed to be built to freeway standard.
As of 2021, British Columbia planned to widen the 420-kilometer section of TCH between Kamloops and Alberta to four lanes by 2050. The project does not include making it a full freeway. So, the sections with traffic lights in towns will likely stay.
The City of Edmonton is changing its city section of Highway 16 (TCH) to a six-lane freeway. This means replacing all traffic lights with overpasses. The project is expected to finish by 2026.
As of 2021, British Columbia was planning to widen 36 kilometers of Highway 1 in the Lower Mainland. The four-lane freeway is too crowded. The project aims to rebuild most interchanges and widen the highway to six lanes.
Besides these big projects, many smaller projects are happening. These are to fix old parts of the highway or make small traffic changes.
Alberta has long-term plans to make both of its Trans-Canada Highway routes into at least four-lane freeways. But they have not set a date for this.
Ontario hopes to extend the 417 freeway to Sudbury eventually. This will carry the main TCH route. But they have not set a date for this either.
Images for kids
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Map of the Trans-Canada Highway
See also
In Spanish: Carretera transcanadiense para niños
- Canadian (train)
- List of Canadian highways by province
- Trans-Canada Trail
