Highway 101 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Sunshine Coast Highway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure | ||||
Length | 156 km [1] (97 mi) | |||
Existed | 1962–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | Langdale Ferry Terminal | |||
Earls Cove–Saltery Bay ferry | ||||
North end | Lund | |||
Location | ||||
Country | Canada | |||
Province | British Columbia | |||
Regional districts | Sechelt | |||
Major cities | Powell River | |||
Towns | Gibsons | |||
Highway system | ||||
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British Columbia Highway 101, also known as the Sunshine Coast Highway, is the main north-south thoroughfare on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Canada.
Highway 101, which first opened in 1962, is divided into two separate land segments, with a ferry link in between. The highway is maintained by Capilano Highway Services. [2] Despite its location on the mainland, the highway is unique for not being connected to the rest of the British Columbia highway system. Access to the highway can only be obtained by taking ferries from Horseshoe Bay to the south end in Gibsons or Comox to Powell River. Highway 101 between Langdale and Powell River is designated as a feeder route of the Canadian National Highway System. [3]
The total distance of Highway 101, including the ferry link, is approximately 156 kilometres (97 mi). The highway begins in the south at the BC Ferries terminal at Langdale, which connects the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver via a ferry route across Howe Sound to Horseshoe Bay. The southern land section of Highway 101 is 80 kilometres (50 mi) long, and includes from south to north, the communities of Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay and Pender Harbour. The ferry link across the Jervis Inlet lasts 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km) between Earls Cove to the south and Saltery Bay to the north. [4] The 59-kilometre-long (37 mi) northern land section of Highway 101 includes, from southeast to northwest, the hamlets of Stillwater and Lang Bay, the city of Powell River, the Tla'amin Nation and the community of Lund, at the northern terminus of the highway.
The provincial government has conducted several feasibility studies on connecting Highway 101 to the Lower Mainland, as well as replacing the Earls Cove–Saltery Bay ferry. A study launched by the BC Liberal government in 2015 identified four proposals costing between $2.1 billion and $4.4 billion: [5]
All four options were considered feasible, with positive cost to benefit ratios for the two bridge options. The study was inconclusive and recommended further analysis of the four options. [6] The NDP government announced in December 2017 that the study would not move forward due to technical and financial issues. [5]
From south to north:
Regional District | Location | km [1] | mi | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sunshine Coast | Langdale | 0.00 | 0.00 | Langdale Ferry Terminal – BC Ferries to Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal ( Hwy 1 east / Hwy 99) | |
0.93 | 0.58 | Marine Drive (Hwy 912:2566 south) / Port Mellon Highway (Hwy 912:2565 north) – Gibsons, Port Mellon | |||
Gibsons | 4.07 | 2.53 | Reed Road | ||
4.89 | 3.04 | Gibsons Way, School Road | Hwy 101 branches west | ||
6.10 | 3.79 | Pratt Road, Payne Road | |||
Roberts Creek | 15.40 | 9.57 | Roberts Creek Road | ||
Sechelt | 41.25 | 25.63 | Field Road | ||
Sechelt First Nation | 25.80 | 16.03 | Ti'Ta Way | ||
Sechelt | 26.26 | 16.32 | Dolphin Street, Wharf Avenue | ||
28.84 | 17.92 | Norwest Bay Road | |||
Madeira Park | 58.09 | 36.10 | Madeira Park Road (Hwy 912:2573 north) | ||
Earls Cove | 80.29 | 49.89 | Earls Cove ferry terminal | ||
Jervis Inlet | Earls Cove – Saltery Bay Ferry Approximately 17.6 km (9.5 nmi) [4] | ||||
qathet | Saltery Bay | 97.89 | 60.83 | Saltery Bay ferry terminal | |
Powell River | 125.11 | 77.74 | Joyce Avenue | ||
128.67 | 79.95 | Wharf Street (Hwy 911:2576 west) / Westview Avenue – Ferries | Access to Texada Island and Comox via ferry | ||
129.61 | 80.54 | Alberni Street, Abbotsford Street | |||
133.66 | 83.05 | Arbutus Avenue, Marine Avenue | |||
Lund | 156.36 | 97.16 | Lund Water Taxi – Passenger Ferry to Savary Island | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Bowen Island, British Columbia, is an island municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver. Bowen Island is within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust. Located in Howe Sound, it is approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) wide by 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long, with the island at its closest point about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the mainland. There is regular ferry service from Horseshoe Bay provided by BC Ferries, as well as semi-regular water taxi services. The population of 4,256 is supplemented in the summer by roughly 1,500 visitors, as Bowen Island regularly receives travelers in the summer season. The island has a land area of 50.12 km2 (19.35 sq mi).
Gibsons is a coastal community of 4,605 in southwestern British Columbia, Canada on the Strait of Georgia.
Highway 99, also known as the Fraser Delta Thruway south of Vancouver, and the Sea to Sky Highway, Squamish Highway, or Whistler Highway north of Vancouver, is the major north–south artery running through the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia from the U.S. border, up Howe Sound through the Sea to Sky Country to Lillooet, and connecting to Highway 97 just north of Cache Creek. The highway's number was derived from the former U.S. Route 99, with which the highway originally connected to at the border. The highway currently connects with Interstate 5 at the United States border.
Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, which is part of the larger Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. With two intervening long, steep-sided fjords inhibiting the construction of a contiguous road connection with Vancouver to the south, geographical surroundings explain Powell River's remoteness as a community, despite relative proximity to Vancouver and other populous areas of the BC Coast. The city is the location of the head office of the qathet Regional District.
The Sunshine Coast is a geographic subregion of the British Columbia Coast that generally comprises the regional districts of qathet and Sunshine Coast.
The qathet Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its only incorporated municipality is the City of Powell River, although it includes a number of unincorporated areas. The district encompasses a land area of 5,075.33 square kilometres (1,959.60 sq mi). The district was formerly known as the Powell River Regional District. Because of frequent confusion between the identical names of Powell River district and city, the district's name was changed in 2018 to qathet, from q̓at̓ᶿət, meaning "working together, bringing together" in the Comox language of the Tla'amin Nation.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern mainland coast, across Georgia Strait from Vancouver Island. It borders on the qathet Regional District to the north, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to the east, and, across Howe Sound, the Metro Vancouver District to the south. The regional district offices are located in the District Municipality of Sechelt.
Sechelt is a district municipality located on the lower Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately 50 km northwest of Vancouver, it is accessible from mainland British Columbia by a 40-minute ferry trip between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale, and a 25-minute drive from Langdale along Highway 101, also known as the Sunshine Coast Highway. The name Sechelt is derived from the Sechelt language word, shishalh, the name of the First Nations people who first settled the area thousands of years ago.
BC Ferries operates three Intermediate-class ferries:
Earls Cove is a small settlement located on Jervis Inlet in the Sunshine Coast region of British Columbia. It is a terminal for the BC Ferries route across the inlet to Saltery Bay, linking the Lower Sunshine Coast with the Upper Sunshine Coast. Earls Cove is at the north end of the Sechelt Peninsula and on the east side of the mouth of Jervis Inlet, adjacent to Agamemnon Channel, across which is Nelson Island.
Howe Sound is a roughly triangular sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jervis Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, about 95 km (59 mi) northwest of Vancouver, and the third of such inlets north of the 49th parallel, the first of which is Burrard Inlet, Vancouver's harbour.
Langdale is a small community on the Sunshine Coast of southern British Columbia, Canada. It is set in a verdant environment characteristic of many small BC communities. It plays host to a ferry terminal of the same name, which serves as the point of entry for most vehicles entering the Sunshine Coast region. Langdale is part of West Howe Sound, Electoral Area F within the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) in British Columbia, Canada.
Keats Island is an inhabited island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. Around eighty people live on Keats Island year-round.
MV Malaspina Sky is an Intermediate-class ferry in the BC Ferries fleet built in 2008.
The Sechelt Peninsula is located on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, just northwest of Vancouver. It is bounded to the west by Malaspina Strait, to the north by Agamemnon Channel and Jervis Inlet, to the east by Sechelt Inlet, and to the south by the Strait of Georgia (separating it from Vancouver Island. Its approximately 350 km2 is a mixture of drier and wetter temperate rain forest. The Caren Range extends north–south along the shore of Sechelt Inlet. The peninsula is a popular outdoor recreation destination, containing many lakes and opportunities for shoreline and woodland hiking, including to the renowned Skookumchuk Narrows. There are several parks, the largest of which is Spipiyus Provincial Park in the interior of the peninsula.
The BC Bike Race is a seven-day mountain bike stage race held in British Columbia, Canada, traditionally held in early July. Six hundred racers ride an average of 50 kilometres a day on race routes that are 75% singletrack.
M/V Queen of the Islands was a RORO ferry operated by BC Ferries between 1963 and 1991. Although the passenger areas provided for an enjoyable travel experience for the general public, she was much maligned by the crews that worked on her, and the Queen of the Islands quickly garnered a reputation as being one of the most unloved ships ever to have operated with BC Ferries.
West Howe Sound, British Columbia is also known as Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) Electoral Area F on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is bound on the south by the Town of Gibsons, on the west by Elphinstone SCRD Electoral Area E, on the east by Howe Sound, on the north by Squamish-Lillooet Regional District Electoral Area D, and on the southeast by Metro Vancouver Regional District Electoral Area A.
Saltery Bay is an unincorporated community on the Sunshine Coast of southern British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of the city of Powell River. It is adjacent to Saltery Bay Provincial Park.
Media related to British Columbia Highway 101 at Wikimedia Commons