When was coquihalla highway built

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We also have free hi-speed wireless internet in most rooms and free internet access station in the lobby. Seasonal heated pool and large patio, gas barbecues for guests, and shaded picnic area. Restaurants and shopping nearby, close to downtown and the University College of the Cariboo. Coquihalla Highway. Search for:. Grandview Motel. Any people who remember these considerations? The Coquihalla project was groundbreaking in many ways and environmental work was one of those areas.

This video explains how wildlife fencing and underpasses were constructed as a part of the project to help moose and deer move freely without having to engage with traffic. We researched and maintained the geometric design standards that all engineers and civil technicians used for the production and design of this magnificent feat of engineering. Kudos to all my coworkers for doing the impossible.

Thanks for sharing this with us Paul — we love hearing these stories from the men and women who played such an important role in helping build our province! Thank you Paul! My father was a very dedicated member of Highways going back to the WAC era.

He always prided himself in working with a dedicated team of knowledgeable and skilled co-workers. He, like many, believed passionately in the domain, the discipline and the work. Reading your comments brought back a smile and many memories, such as the time there was a competition to design a new logo for Highways and my fathers contribution which years later looked similar to the ICBC logo!

Once again thank you! Thanks you so much for the page you have put together. My uncle, that has since passed away, was one of the superintendent of the jobs and I remember seeing a old 8 mm video of him flying over the route in a helicopter. And pictures he took as the project went on as he loved his camera. I was lucky enough to even been able to travel the highway before it was open and remember how strange it was with know other cars around. Randy Jackson. Wow Randy — how cool is that?! Thanks for sharing your story with us — we love hearing personal highway history like this.

I agree the toll booths should have remained open to cover maintainace costs. It opened well after the coquihalla , but when did construction begin? Construction of the connector began shortly after the opening of the Coquihalla Phase 2 in and was completed in Just worked out that if the Coquihalla had been built at the same rate as the Trans-Canada is being 4 laned less than 4 km per annum since the FIRST phase would have opened in In the Alps, a vast region that has been travelled for many centuries, all roads, including the latest freeways, avoid high plateau regions.

These roads are designed to follow valleys, even if it means digging expensive tunnels in narrow valleys and under passes. For two excellent reasons: to avoid high altitude weather and to stay close to services. Valleys are lived in, so service stations and emergency services are never far away.

The highway was known to have had environment and fishery experts consult the building process along the way. Previous story Young B. If you're a regular motorist on the Coquihalla Highway, you probably love it for the high quality engineering of the road that allows you to cruise at modern highway speeds, unencumbered by traffic, to and from the Lower Mainland to the Okanagan or Kamloops.

But you probably have other thoughts during the winter, when metres of snow and ice pile up on the Coquihalla summit, making the roadway below a dangerous and difficult drive.

Actually that can and often does happen virtually any month of the year on the Coquihalla. Since then, the four lane superhighway has reduced travel time to the coast to four hours for cities like Kamloops and Kelowna, accelerating the growth of those cities and the interior of the province. But that time saving connection can come at a cost in terms of reliability, and sometimes lives, as the highway is carved through some of the most challenging terrain and environment in the southern half of the province.

History Historically, the Coquihalla Pass has been the bane of those passing through the interior since its first use by Europeans as a trade corridor by the Hudson's Bay fur brigades in Harvey provided a description of the early Coquihalla trails by Royal Engineer Lieutenant Palmer Harvey was a professional engineer who served as B.

They soon realized one could only use the Coquihalla Pass at best for five months of the year. Harvey described the first political discourse regarding construction of the modern Coquihalla Highway as being discussed in a British Columbia throne speech in in which it was noted a new route to the coast from the interior was needed. At that time, the Hope-Princeton Highway was 28 years old. A proposal to build 70 miles of new highway from Hope to Merritt was made.