British Columbia Highway 5: Difference between revisions

Highway 5
Southern Yellowhead Highway Coquihalla Highway
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
Length	543.33 km[1] (337.61 mi) Coquihalla Highway: 185.55 km (115.30 mi)
Existed	1941–present
Major junctions
South end	Highway 1 (TCH) near Hope
Major intersections	Highway 3 near Hope Highway 5A / Highway 8 / Highway 97C in Merritt Highway 1 (TCH) / Highway 97 in Kamloops Highway 5A in Kamloops Highway 24 in Little Fort
North end	Highway 16 (TCH) near Tête Jaune Cache
Location
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Regional districts	Hope, Barriere, Clearwater
Major cities	Merritt, Kamloops
Villages	Valemount
Highway system
British Columbia provincial highways
← Highway 4 → Highway 5A

Highway 5 is a 524 km (326 mi) north-south route in southern British Columbia, Canada. Highway 5 connects the southern Trans-Canada route (Highway 1) with the northern Yellowhead route (Highway 16), providing the shortest land connection between Vancouver and Edmonton. A portion of Highway 5 south of Kamloops is also known as the Coquihalla Highway; the northern portion is known as the Southern Yellowhead Highway. The Coquihalla section was a toll road until 2008.

The current Highway 5 is not the first highway in B.C. to have this designation. From 1941 to 1953, the section of present-day Highway 97 and Highway 97A, between Kaleden, just north of Osoyoos, and Salmon Arm, was formerly Highway 5. In 1953, the '5' designation was moved to designate Highway 5A, south of Kamloops, to north of Kamloops. In 1986, Highway 5 was re-routed between Hope and Merritt. The re-routed section of highway between Merritt and Kamloops was completed in 1987. The total cost for the highway between Hope and Merritt was approximately $848 million.^[2]

South of Kamloops, Highway 5 is known as the Coquihalla Highway (colloquially "the Coq"; pronounced "coke"), 186 km (116 mi) of freeway, varying between four and six lanes with a posted speed limit of 120 km/h (75 mph). The Coquihalla approximately traces through the Cascade Mountains the route of the former Kettle Valley Railway, which existed between 1912 and 1958. It is so-named because near Hope, it generally follows the Coquihalla River, for about 60 km (37 mi), and uses the Coquihalla Pass.

In 2003, Premier Gordon Campbell announced the Liberal government would turn over toll revenue to a private operator, along with responsibility for operation, and maintenance of "the Coq". In response to strong opposition from the public, and numerous businesses, in the Interior of British Columbia, the provincial government shelved the move three months later.

On September 26, 2008, the provincial government permanently lifted the Coquihalla tolls, effective 1:00 pm that day.^[2][3] Subsequently, the toll station and signs were dismantled.^[4]

Effective July 2, 2014, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure increased the speed limit of Coquihalla Highway from 110 km/h (68 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph) after conducting an engineering assessment and province-wide speed review.^[5]

Although the Yellowhead Highway system is considered part of the Trans-Canada Highway network, the Highway 5 segment is not marked as such. Highway 5 is, however, designated as a core route of Canada's National Highway System.

Highway 5 begins south at the junction with Highway 3 at uninhabited "Othello", 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Hope (named after a nearby siding on the Kettle Valley Railway, which used many Shakespearean names). Exit numbers on the Coquihalla are a continuation of those on Highway 1 west of Hope. The speed limit on the Coquihalla Highway south of Merritt is 120 km/h (75 mph). 35 km (22 mi) north of Othello, after passing through five interchanges, Highway 5 reaches the landmark Great Bear snow shed. The location of the former toll booth is 13 km (8 mi) north of the snow shed, passing through another interchange and the 1,244 m (4,081 ft) Coquihalla Pass. Highway 5 was the only highway in British Columbia to have tolls; a typical passenger vehicle toll was C$10. Now free to drive, at the Coquihalla Lakes junction, the highway crosses from the Fraser Valley Regional District into the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. 61 km (38 mi) and five interchanges north of the former toll plaza, the Coquihalla enters the city of Merritt. There it joins Highway 5A and Highway 97C.

Highway 5 travels 4 km (2.5 mi) through the eastern area of Merritt before reaching its northern junction with Highway 5A. From there, the Coquihalla has three more interchanges and one mountain pass – the Surrey Lake Summit – in the 72 km (45 mi) between Merritt and its end at a junction with Highways 1 and 97. Highway 5 continues east for 12 km (7.5 mi) concurrently with Highways 1 and 97, through Kamloops. This stretch of road, which carries 97 South and 5 North on the same lanes (and vice versa), is the only wrong-way concurrency in British Columbia.

After separating from Highways 1 and 97, Highway 5 proceeds north for approximately 19 km (12 mi), temporarily leaving Kamloops city limits as a four-lane highway, before re-entering the city at the Rayleigh community, then continuing north. It becomes a two-lane highway at Heffley Creek and the exit to Sun Peaks resorts, both of which indicate the final northern boundary of Kamloops.

Highway 5 follows the North Thompson River north from Heffley Creek for approximately 54 km (34 mi), along a parallel course with a branch of the Canadian National Railway, passing through Barriere, to a junction with Highway 24 at Little Fort. 30 km (19 mi) north of Little Fort, while continuing to follow the North Thompson and the CN Railway, Highway 5 then reaches the community of Clearwater. It proceeds northeast for another 107 km (66 mi), passing Vavenby and Avola en route to the community of Blue River; then 109 km (68 mi) further north through the Columbia Mountains, it crosses into the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, passing by the community of Valemount to its northern terminus at Tête Jaune Cache, where it meets Highway 16.

From south to north, the following intersections are observed along Highway 5:^[6][7]

Regional District	Location	km[1]	mi	Exit[8]	Name[8]	Destinations	Notes
Freeway and exit numbers continues along Highway 1 (TCH) west (Trans-Canada Highway) – Vancouver
Fraser Valley	Hope	0.00	0.00	170	Hope	Highway 1 (TCH) east (Water Avenue) – Cache Creek, Kamloops, Prince George	West end of BC 3 concurrency; no westbound exit
		0.99	0.62	171		To Highway 1 (TCH) east (3rd Avenue)	Westbound exit only
		3.08	1.91	173	Thacker Creek	Old Hope-Princeton Way	No westbound entrance; entrance from Highway 1 (TCH) west
	​	6.67	4.14	177	Othello	Highway 3 east (Crowsnest Highway) – Princeton, Penticton, Osoyoos	East end of BC 3 concurrency
				South end of Coquihalla Highway
		13.00	8.08	183	Peers Creek	Othello Road – Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park
		22.02	13.68	192	Jessica	Sowaqua Creek Road
		25.77	16.01	195	Carolin	Carolin Mines Road
		29.68	18.44	200	Shylock	Shylock Road (U-turn route only)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance.
		31.19	19.38	202	Portia	Portia, Old Coquihalla Road	No southbound exit.
		42.21	26.23	Great Bear Snowshed
		45.53	28.29	217	Zopkios	Zopkios rest area
		48.93	30.40	Coquihalla Pass – 1,244 m (4,081 ft)
		51.35	31.91	221	Falls Lake	Falls Lake Road
↑ / ↓	​	52.22	32.45	Dry Gulch Bridge
Thompson-Nicola	​	58.11	36.11	228	Coquihalla Lakes	Coquihalla Lakes Road – Britton Creek Rest Area
		61.09	37.96	231	Mine Creek	Mine Creek Road (U-turn route only)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance.
		61.2	38.0	238	Juliet	Juliet Creek Road – Coldwater River Provincial Park
		79.69	49.52	250	Larson Hill	Larson Hill
		86.46	53.72	256	Kingsvale	Coldwater Road
		106.32	66.06	276	Comstock	Comstock Road
	Merritt	115.99	72.07	286	Coldwater	Highway 5A south – Princeton Highway 8 west (Nicola Avenue) – Spences Bridge Highway 97C – Ashcroft, Logan Lake, Kelowna
		119.96	74.54	290	Nicola	Highway 5A north – Quilchena, KamloopsModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
	​	145.31	90.29	315	Helmer	Helmer Road
		152.60	94.82	Surrey Lake Summit – 1,444 m (4,738 ft)
		167.11	103.84	336	Walloper	Highway 97D south – Logan LakeModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		185.48	115.25	355	Inks Lake	Inks Lake Road
	Kamloops	192.22	119.44	362	Afton	Highway 1 (TCH) west – Cache Creek, Lytton, Vancouver Highway 97 north – Cache Creek, Prince George To Highway 99 south – Lillooet	West end of BC 1 / BC 97 concurrency
				North end of Coquihalla Highway
		196.45	122.07	366	Copperhead	Copperhead Drive, Lac le Jeune Road
		198.13	123.11	367	Pacific Way	Pacific Way
		198.92	123.60	368	Aberdeen	Highway 5A south – MerrittModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		200.22	124.41	369	Sagebrush	Columbia Street – City Centre	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		200.80	124.77	370	Springhill	Summit Drive – City Centre	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		204.29	126.94	374	Yellowhead	Highway 1 (TCH) east – Salmon Arm, Banff, Calgary Highway 97 south – Vernon	East end of BC 1 / BC 97 concurrency
				South end of Southern Yellowhead Highway • Highway 5 north exits freeway using Exit 374.
	↑ / ↓	204.74	127.22	Yellowhead Bridge over South Thompson River
	Kamloops No. 1	206.09	128.06			Shuswap Road	Signalized, at-grade intersection
		208.16	129.34			Mount Paul Way	Signalized, at-grade intersection
		210.04	130.51			Halston Avenue, Paul Lake Road – Kamloops Airport	Signalized, at-grade intersection
	Kamloops	220.16	136.80			Puett Ranch Road
		228.74	142.13			Old Highway 5, Tod Mountain Road – Sun Peaks
	Barriere	267.64	166.30			Barriere Town Road, Lilley Road
		270.06	167.81	Barriere North Thompson Bridge across North Thompson River
	Little Fort	297.88	185.09			Highway 24 west – Bridge Lake
	​	324.78	201.81	Clearwater River Bridge across Clearwater River
	Clearwater	328.08	203.86			Clearwater Valley Road, Park Drive – Wells Gray Provincial Park	Roundabout
	Avola	395.43	245.71	Avola North Thompson Bridge across North Thompson River
	​	423.68	263.26	Six Mile Bridge across North Thompson River
	Blue River	434.43	269.94			Angus Horne Street, Shell Road
	​	474.40	294.78	Lempriere Bridge across North Thompson River
		477.34	296.61	Moombeam Bridge across North Thompson River
		478.91	297.58	Gosnell Bridge across North Thompson River
Fraser-Fort George	Valemount	523.94	325.56			5th Avenue, Pine Road	Signalized, at-grade intersection
	Tête Jaune Cache	543.13	337.49	Tête Jaune Bridge across Fraser River
		543.33	337.61		Tête Jaune	Highway 16 (TCH) (Yellowhead Highway) – McBride, Prince George, Jasper, Edmonton
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition

Kw'ikw'iya:la (Coquihalla) in the Halq'emeylem language of the Stó:lō, is a place name meaning "stingy container". It refers specifically to a fishing rock near the mouth of what is now known as the Coquihalla River. This rock is a good platform for spearing salmon. According to Stó:lō oral history, the skw'exweq (water babies, underwater people) who inhabit a pool close by the rock, would swim out and pull the salmon off the spears, allowing only certain fisherman to catch the salmon.^[9]

The route is also often referred to simply as "The Coq" (pronounced "coke").

• BC5 is the main highway serviced in Discovery Channel show, Highway Thru Hell.
• The song "Hurtin' Albertan" by country singer Corb Lund makes reference to the Coquihalla in the lyric "...there's good weather up on the Coke."

• 
  Highway 5 passing through Thompson Plateau
• 
  The toll booth once marked the halfway point of the formerly tolled Hope-to-Merritt portion of the highway.
• 
  Passing Nicola Valley southbound.
• 
  Downtown Valemount as seen from the west side of Highway 5.