A strange thing happens when you’re travelling BC’s highways and you head through Rogers Pass, drive a section of Highway 93, cruise alongside Long Beach near Tofino, or travel Highway 97, 133 kilometres north of Dawson Creek. You see, the ground under your tires changes… You may think that’s provincially owned and operated road beneath you…but it’s not. These stretches of road are owned and operated by the federal government’s Parks Canada Agency, which has a long involvement with the...
It’s a fact. BC is a heck of a popular place and our highways and byways are getting busier and busier. What should be a simple left turn can sometimes take a long, long time to make (not to mention big back-ups for folks in line behind.) We often need to make changes to some of those busier routes in order to keep travellers moving safely and smoothly, which is exactly what is happening on Highway 97 at Stickle...
We’re working as hard as we can to repair roads in the South Peace region, after major flooding in mid-June 2016 damaged more than 300 sites. Restoring roads takes some or all of 12 steps.
When severe flooding caused by heavy rains wiped out several sections of highway and side road in Northern BC, crews and heavy equipment were quick to respond. The Peace Region flooding began June 15, impacting 186 sites on six numbered highways (97 South, 2 at Dawson Creek, 29 South, 29 North, 52 North) and 40 side roads. There was serious devastation to infrastructure, homes and other personal property. But by noon on June 23, all six highways and 21...
Hop aboard the latest episode of our 1966 road trip series – Highway 97 from Prince George to Dawson Creek. It’s a long ride, so we have broken it into three segments for you to view: from Prince George to Parsnip River Bridge, from Parsnip River Bridge to Chetwynd and from Chetwynd to Dawson Creek. If you’ve been riding along with us, you may have already toured the southern stretch of BC Highway 97, from the U.S. Border to...
Do you remember the Garbage Gobbler? Created in the 1950s and placed across the province in B.C. Parks and at points along BC highways in order to “Keep Beautiful British Columbia, Clean and Beautiful,” Garbage Gobblers were a truly cool piece of transportation history. Sadly, Garbage Gobblers proved to be as popular with bears as they were with people and eventually they had to be replaced in favour of bear proof cans (which were not as artsy, but much...
We’ve talked with you before about what the heck it is we do anyways – but lately we have begun to realize that there might be some confusion around what we don’t do; Or rather – where exactly we step out of the transportation picture and where our transportation partners, such as ICBC and Road SafetyBC, municipalities and the federal government step in and help you. Here’s a rundown of what those partners do, in a nutshell. 1. ICBC...
Spring has finally sprung! Or has it? While today marks the official arrival of spring, a quick glimpse around our beautiful province through the eyes of DriveBC HighwayCams reveals many different kinds of roads to be travelled – all depending on your location. Spring does not treat all B.C. drivers equally. After all, it’s a transition period, and weather conditions can bring a little bit of everything. No matter where you live, it’s important to be aware of the...
Perhaps no group monitors winter on B.C. highways more vigilantly than the ministry’s maintenance contractors. They are on call around the clock, ready to battle the ice, slush and snow that can threaten travellers’ safety at a moment’s notice. This is Part 2 of a Shift Into Winter interview series exploring how people, representing various professions, experience winter driving in B.C. We began by talking to paramedics, and continue here with Interior Roads Equipment Supervisor Rob Schwartz. Here are...
Ever wonder what’s up with highway numbers? You’ve got Highway 1 in the south, Highway 2 in the north, Highway 3 even farther south than Highway 1, and then Highway 4 connecting rural communities on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Just looking at those examples, it’s easy to see they’re certainly not related geographically, chronologically or by any other obvious connection.Both even and odd-numbered routes can run either east/west or north/south, so that’s not a distinguishing feature, either....
