British Columbia Highway 16

Route description

Haida Gwaii section

The 101 km segment of the 1347 km BC highway begins in the west in the village of Masset, on the northern coast of Graham Island, marking the western terminus of the Yellowhead Highway. Proceeding south, the highway goes 38 km to the inlet town of Port Clements. Winding its way along the boundary of Naikoon Provincial Park, Highway 16 goes south for 27 km before reaching the community of Tlell. 36 km south of Tlell, Highway 16 reaches Skidegate, where its Haida Gwaii section terminates at a ferry terminal.

Mainland section

BC Ferries then takes Highway 16 across the Hecate Strait for 92.9 nmi due northeast to its landing at Prince Rupert.

thumb|left|upright=1.1|Highway 16 heading west towards Prince Rupert from Terrace

From Prince Rupert, Highway 16 begins its winding route east through the Coast Mountain Ranges. Following the Skeena River, the highway travels for 151 km to the city of Terrace. Highway 37 merges onto Highway 16 from north of Highway 16, at the Kitwanga junction. Another 43 km northeast, Highway 16 reaches New Hazelton, where it then veers southeast along the Bulkley River. 68 km later, the highway reaches the town of Smithers, proceeding southeast another 64 km to the village of Houston.

At Houston, Highway 16 begins a parallel course along the upper course of the Bulkley River, proceeding 81 km east to its junction with Highway 35, south of Burns Lake. 128 km east, after passing through the hamlet of Fraser Lake, Highway 16 reaches its junction with Highway 27 in the town of Vanderhoof. 97 km east of Vanderhoof, Highway 16 reaches its B.C. midpoint as it enters the city of Prince George at its junction with Highway 97. Highway 16 leaves Prince George after coursing through the city for 9 km.

Construction and upgrading

Prince George–New Hazelton

In August 1925, this section opened with the completion of the Burns Lake–Endako link.

New Hazelton–Kitwanga

Highway 16 was extended west of New Hazelton by about 4 mi in 1927–28 and another 3.3 mi in 1928–29. By 1931–32, Kitwanga–Hazelton was rated fairly good. By mid-1943, the condition was rated rough, awaiting tendering of reconstruction contracts.

Kitwanga–Usk

By 1931–32, Cedarvale–Kitwanga was rated passable. For Usk–Cedarvale, several segments were under construction. During 1936–1941, a series of 1 to stretches were completed, which included replacing sections washed out by the 1936 flood. By 1937, the Usk–Cedarvale gap still remained on the southeast shore.

By 1940, a 20 mi gap remained. In 1943, progress reactivated. In May 1944, the gap completed comprised the Pacific–Cedarvale section.

Usk–Terrace

Highway extended east of Terrace by about 2 mi in 1927–28 and another 3.7 mi in 1928–29. In September 1929, Terrace–Usk section completed.

Terrace–Prince Rupert

• 1927: Aerial reconnaissance to identify possible routes was unsuccessful.
• 1928: Galloway Rapids–Phelan, about 5 mi cleared. Phelan station was about 3.6 km south of present Port Edward.
• 1930: Galloway Rapids bridge built. Over prior few years, a narrow, winding, gravel road had been cut from the Prince Rupert city limits. A road east from the bridge began.
• Early 1930s: Great Depression relief crews extended road eastward.
• 1935: Completed about 4 km eastward to Kloiya Bay. Preliminary decision made to progress a highway eastward rather than via Port Edward and south along the shoreline. Within a few years, a narrow, rough road followed the shores of Taylor and Pudhomme lakes.
• 1938: Option of a route via present Kitimat was rejected.
• 1942: US entry into World War II prompted the building of a highway to move troops in response to a potential Japanese invasion. That year, construction contracts were awarded. Significant parts of the CN right-of-way were appropriated for the highway and the track realigned. A total of 45 bridges would be prefabricated.
• 1943: Working 24/7, progress hampered by high employee turnover owing to cold and wet summer weather. That February, five snowslides buried a construction camp near Kwinitsa, killing two and injuring 11.
• 1944: "Skeena Highway" officially opened in September. However, the road in many places was a narrow winding trail hugging the railway tracks. With the Japanese invasion threat long passed, the road was not snowplowed that winter.
• 1945: Route no longer possessed military value. The federal government initially maintained control because the province did not want to assume maintenance costs.
• 1946: Province took over the highway.
• 1951: Highway was paved. The following winter was the first time snowplowing was used to keep the highway open.
• 1970: Highway rerouted and repaved.
• 1972: January and February brought the heaviest snowfalls and longest road closures.
• 1974: January snowslide about 28 mi west of Terrace buried motel/restaurant/gas station complex, killing seven people.
• Late 1960s: Prince Rupert–Tyee reconstruction.
• 1980s: Kasiks, Tyee, and Esker railway overpasses erected.
• 1989: Falling ice at Car Wash Rock, about 7.5 km east of Exchamsiks River Provincial Park, killed a motorist.
• Early 1990s: Hazardous Tyee–Khyex section realigned.
• 2020s: Despite promises to rectify, the Car Wash Rock site remains hazardous. About 3.5 km farther east, the Mile 28 project to replace the railway crossing with an overpass has stalled.

Highway of Tears

Main article: Highway of Tears

The Highway of Tears is a stretch of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Since 1970, numerous women have gone missing or have been murdered along the 720 km section of highway. Aboriginal organizations speculate that number ranges above forty.

In 2016, the Canadian government launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women after communicating with victim families. This was done to find methods of slowing the violence within the Indigenous population.

In September 2020 a totem pole honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women was raised on the highway just outside Terrace.

Major intersections

From west to east, the following intersections are observed along Highway 16. Distances exclude the 92.9 nmi ferry route of BC Ferries between Skidegate and Prince Rupert. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311044605/http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-transportation/transportation-infrastructure/engineering-standards-and-guidelines/traffic-engineering-and-safety/highway-safety/lki/lki_bc_201607.pdf |archive-date=March 11, 2017 |url-status=dead Provincial Park](mount-robson-provincial-park)

References

References

1. Infrastructure, Ministry of Transportation and. "Highway 37 Map - Province of British Columbia".
2. (August 20, 1925). "Prince George Citizen".
3. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1925–26".
4. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1927–28".
5. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1928–29".
6. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1931–32".
7. (July 15, 1943). "Prince George Citizen".
8. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1936–37".
9. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1937–38".
10. (1937). "Standard Oil BC map".
11. (November 21, 1940). "Daily Colonist".
12. "Minister of Public Works annual report, 1943–44".
13. (May 25, 1944). "Prince George Citizen".
14. (August 10, 1944). "Prince George Citizen".
15. (September 26, 1929). "Prince George Citizen".
16. Septer, Dirk. (1995). "BC Historical News: Highway 16: Prince Rupert–Terrace 1944–1994".
17. (February 13, 1943). "Daily Colonist".
18. (September 26, 1946). "B.C. to Take Over Highway from CNR". [[Vancouver Sun]].
19. (March 15, 2021). "Transportation and Infrastructure correspondence".
20. (April 15, 2019). "North Coast Review".
21. "Four things to know about Highway of Tears scandal, and the documents B.C. government allegedly deleted".
22. (September 25, 2012). "Highway Of Tears: BC's Missing And Murdered Women".
23. "Those Who Take Us Away".
24. (September 4, 2020). "Totem pole to be raised on B.C.'s Highway of Tears to honour missing, murdered Indigenous women".
25. (September 15, 2020). "Memorial pole raised on Highway of Tears in B.C. for families".
26. (September 4, 2020). "Community gathers for monumental totem pole raising along B.C.'s Highway of Tears".
27. (2010). "British Columbia Road Atlas". MapArt Publishing Corp..
28. (July 13, 2022). "Ancestral Haida name restored to Haida Gwaii village".