The Trans
Canada Highway is officially the longest national highway in the world. It is not a single road, however, but consists of a half dozen different
routes that traverse the country, stretching from the
Pacific Ocean in the West to the
Atlantic Ocean in the East and crossing 10 Canadian
provinces.
The primary route starts in
Victoria, British Columbia on the Pacific, and ends up in
St. John's, Newfoundland on the Atlantic, with a length of 7604 km (4753 miles).
From
Mile 0 in Victoria, the highway runs along route 1 in
British Columbia for 986 km (616 miles), including a 30 km
ferry trip from
Nanaimo on
Vancouver Island to
Horseshoe Bay on the mainland. In
BC, the highway passes through
Vancouver and
Kamloops. At
Lake Louise, the highway enters
Alberta, where it runs along route 1 for 524 km (326 miles), pasing through
Calgary and
Medecine Hat. At
Walsh, the Trans Canada enters the province of
Saskatchewan, running along route 1 for 655 km (407 miles). After passing through
Moose Jaw and
Regina, it enters
Manitoba at
Fleming. The cities of
Brandon.
Portage La Prairie and
Winnipeg are on the Trans Canada (as route 1), before entering
Ontario 497 km (309 miles) later, at
West Hawk Lake. The main branch of the Trans Canada runs along Ontario route 17 as far as
Sudbury, after passing through
Kenora,
Thunder Bay and
Sault Sainte Marie. There, it runs along route 69 to
Waubaushene, splits off onto route 12 for about 90 km, and then lies along route 7 through
Peterbrorough to the capital of Canada,
Ottawa. From there, it once again runs along route 17 to the
Québec border. The total distance in Ontario is 2348 km (1468 miles). Once in Québec, the highway runs along route A40 (A for
Autoroute, or freeway) to
Montréal, jumps to the A25, and the A20 past
Québec City to
Rivière du Loup, where it follows route 185 to
New Brunswick. The total distance spent in Québec is 573 km (358 miles). In New Brunswick, the Trans Canada follows route 2 past
Fredericton to the
Nova Scotia border at
Amherst, 644 km (403 miles) away. Once in Nova Scotia, the highway is route 104 past
Truro to the
Canso Causeway, where it crosses over to
Cape Breton Island and becomes route 105 to
North Sydney, after 483 km (302 miles). From North Sydney, a 161 km (100 mile) ferry route lands at
Port aux Basques in
Newfoundland. 927 km (579 miles) further along route 1 is St. Johns, the Eastern endpoint of the Trans Canada Highway.
Several spurs exist. From West to East, the
Yellowhead Highway runs as route 16 from
Masset in BC on the
Queen Charlotte Islands, via
Prince Rupert,
Edmonton Alberta and
Saskatoon Saskatchewan to meet with route 1 at a point 13 km West of Portage la Prairie in Manitoba. The
International Falls route splits off from Kenora in
Northern Ontario, and runs along routes 71 and 11 via International Falls, to meet back up with the main route just west of Thunder Bay. The
Northern Route follows route 11, leaving the main route at
Nipigon in Northern Ontario, to
Kirkland Lake, turning East along route 66, entering Québec as route 117 and continuing pas
Val d'Or to
Sainte Agathe where it follows route A15 to Montréal. Ontario route 17 from Sudbury to
North Bay and Ottawa, and route 11 from Kirkland Lake to North Bay, are also designated as the Trans Canada. Finally, a spur leaves the main route in Eastern New Brunswick as route 16, and crosses
the Confederation Bridge over the
Northumberland Strait into
Prince Edward Island and loops along 117 km (73 miles) of route 1 through
Charlottetown to cross a ferry back from
High Bank to
Caribou in Nova Scotia. There it follows route 106 to join the main route at
New Glasgow.
The Trans Canada Highway was commissioned in
1949 with the issue of the
Trans Canada Highway Act as a post-WWII national unification project. Even though one of the conditions for British Columbia's joining the Canadian
Confederation in 1871 was a road link to Eastern Canada, the link had so far not materialized. A railway did cross the country, but it was impossible to get from one end of canada to the other by road. Specifically, there was no road to the north of
Lake Superior, and travellers had to go through the United States to the south. Similarly, road links over much of the
Rocky Mountains were very poor, and again the US road system offered a more passable route.
Although the Trans Canada Highway was formally opened and dedicated in a ceremony at
Rogers Pass in British Columbia on
September 3, 1962, the primary route was still missing a 320 km section in Newfoundland, which was completed in
1965. The spurs mentioned above were added at later dates, with the
Yellowhead being the most recent in
1986.
The Trans Canada Highway Act dictates the standards for any highways that are part of the national highway system. Specifically, all roads must be
paved, and have at least two
lanes. Lanes must be a minimum of 24 feet wide, and
shoulders (either
gravel or paved) must be at least 10 feet wide. The maximum allowable
grade is six percent, curves must be less than three degrees, and
stopping sight distance must be at least 600 feet. The first province to complete their section of the Highway was Saskatchewan, in
1957.
Recommended
route signage for the Trans Canada is a green rectangle, of dimensions 5:3 (aligned vertically). A white band across the top should have the words "TRANS CANADA" written in green in a clearly legible font, and a white ribbon emblem across the bottom should have the name of the province written on it in green. A large white
maple leaf emblem should occupy the center of the sign, and the
route number should be clearly printed in a large green font in the center of the maple leaf. A placard immediately underneath may have the designation "EAST" or "WEST", as appropriate. French may be substituted for English for any of the written text. In some provinces, you will find this sign without a route number accompanying a similarly sized sign indicating the route number, as conforms to the provincial designation for such signage.