British Columbia Highway 19

Highway 19
Highway 19
Island Highway; Inland Island Highway
	Highway 19 highlighted in red.
Route information
	Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
Length	377 km (234 mi)
Existed	1953–present
Major junctions
South end	Duke Point Ferry Terminal
	Highway 1 (TCH) in Nanaimo; Highway 19A south in Nanaimo; Highway 19A north at Craig's Crossing; Highway 4A near Parksville; Highway 4 near Qualicum Beach; Highway 19A / Highway 28 in Campbell River; Highway 30 between and Port McNeill and Port Hardy
North end	Bear Cove Ferry Terminal
Location
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Highway system
	British Columbia provincial highways; ;

Highway 19, is the main north-south thoroughfare on Vancouver Island from Nanaimo to Port Hardy. A highway has existed on the Island since about 1912. Originally gravel and rough, the highway was an essential link together with the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway. The paved highway first opened in 1953, replacing a stretch of Highway 1 between Nanaimo and Campbell River, finally being extended to the northern tip of the island in the late 1970s. The total length of the highway is 377 kilometres (234 mi).

History

Completed in 1953, the highway was built over most of the original highway 19A. By 1976,^[1] the highway was extended north to Port Hardy, where it now terminates at the Bear Cove ferry terminal. Before 1976, the highway terminated in the north at Kelsey Bay, where BC Ferries originally began its northern route to Prince Rupert until moving its southern terminus north to Port Hardy after the highway was extended. Between 1996 and 2001, an express route was built further inland between Parksville and Campbell River, while another express route was built as a western bypass of Nanaimo, extending the highway further south to the Duke Point ferry terminal. This makes Highway 19 the only numbered highway in B.C. to have ferry terminals at both ends.

Route details

Highway 19's northern end is located at the Bear Cove ferry terminal, across the bay from Port Hardy. The highway proceeds southwest from the ferry dock for 5 km (3 mi) to a junction with the main road to the centre of Port Hardy, then turns southeast, travelling for 16 km (10 mi) to Highway 30, and then further east for 20 km (12 mi) to the main road to Port McNeill. The highway then follows the eastern shore of Nimpkish Lake and the Nimpkish River through a long stretch of dense forest terrain for 64 km (40 mi) southeast, until reaching a junction with the community of Woss, then travelling another 65 km east (40 mi), through the boundary between the Regional Districts of Mount Waddington and Strathcona, to a junction with Sayward, and finally entering the city of Campbell River another 64 km (40 mi) southeast, at a junction with Highways 28 and 19A, just past the river that the city is named for.

The entire stretch of Highway 19 north of Campbell River is an undivided two-lane configuration. Once at the junction with Highways 28 and 19A, Highway 19 separates into an expressway configuration, built between 1996 and 2001. In Campbell River, the expressway shares its northbound lanes with Tamarac Street, and its southbound lanes with Willow Street. The entire stretch of Highway 19 between Campbell River and the city of Parksville alternates between a divided four-lane expressway and freeway, with a nominal speed limit of 110 km/h (68 mph), and is referred to as the "Inland Island Highway".

South from Campbell River, Highway 19 is divided primarily by a concrete wall, and goes through a series of six at-grade intersections, five of them possessing exit numbers. 52 km (32 mi) south of Campbell River, Highway 19 reaches its first interchange, with a four-lane arterial highway that goes west to the village of Cumberland and east to the communities of Courtenay and Comox. Past the Courtenay Interchange, Highway 19 is divided by a grass median. 16 km (10 mi) later, Highway 19 reaches another interchange, this time with a two-lane road that goes a short distance east to the B.C. Ferry terminal at Buckley Bay. There are two more at-grade intersections on Highway 19 in the 41 km (25 mi) between the Buckley Bay Interchange and the interchange with Highway 4, which goes north into Qualicum Beach. 9 km (6 mi) later, Highway 19 goes through another interchange, this time with Highway 4A, which goes east into Parksville. The next interchange, at Craig's Crossing, is another 5 km south (3 mi).

Past the Craig's Crossing Interchange, Highway 19 resumes its 1953 alignment, which today is a 4-lane, divided arterial highway with a concrete median barrier mostly constructed during the 1970s. The highway passes southeast through the communities of Nanoose Bay and Lantzville before finally entering the north part of Nanaimo. Highway 19 then veers south onto a 20 km (12 mi) long four-lane expressway known as the "Nanaimo Parkway", which has five at-grade intersections along its length. Highway 19's Nanaimo Parkway portion ends at an interchange with the Trans Canada and Cedar Road. At the interchange with Cedar Road, Highway 19 proceeds to share an alignment with the Trans-Canada Highway south for 2 km (1¼ mi) before turning eastward at another interchange (Duke Point Highway). Highway 19 then crosses over the Nanaimo River 2 km (1¼ mi) later, passes through an interchange at Maughan Rd and then goes northward for 5 km (3 mi), finally terminating at the B.C. Ferry terminal at Duke Point.

The 5 km (3 mi) long stretch of Highway 19 between Capilano Road and Northwest Bay Road in Nanoose Bay is a single point of failure in Vancouver Island's highway system. If a major incident resulted in the total closure of any part of that stretch of road, traffic travelling between the north Island and the south Island would have to take a very long detour involving no less than four separate ferry routes.

Major intersections

Regional District	Location	km^[2]	mi	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Nanaimo	Duke Point (Nanaimo)	0.00	0.00	Duke Point ferry terminal – BC Ferries to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal South End of Duke Point Highway segment and Southern terminus. (Highway 17 east)
		0.27	0.17	(0)	private road – Harmac Sawmill	At grade, traffic signals; no westbound exit
		1.92	1.19	(2)	Maughan Road – Biggs Park, Jack Point	At grade; no westbound entrance
	Cedar	4.26	2.65	(4)	Maughan Road – Duke Point Industrial Park	Interchange; eastbound exit, westbound entrance
	Nanaimo	8.03	4.99	7	Highway 1 (TCH) south – Nanaimo Airport, Victoria	Duke Point Interchange Hwy 19 branches north; south end of Hwy 1 concurrency; North end of Duke Point Highway segment.
		9.97	6.20	9	Highway 1 (TCH) north – Departure Bay, City Centre, Vancouver	Grade separated; left-side exit; north end of Hwy 1 concurrency
		9.97	6.20	South end of Nanaimo Parkway segment
		16.49	10.25	16	College Drive, Fifth Street – Vancouver Island University
		18.45	11.46	18	Jingle Pot Road
		21.34	13.26	21	Northfield Road
		24.55	15.25	24	Jingle Pot Road, Mostar Road
		28.17	17.50	28	Aulds Road
		28.60	17.77	(28B)	Mary Ellen Drive	Northbound right-in/right-out; northbound access to Highway 19A
		29.11	18.09	29	Highway 19A south (Business Route) to Highway 1 (TCH) – Departure Bay, Vancouver	Southbound only; jughandle intersection; signalized
		29.11	18.09	North end of Nanaimo Parkway segment
	Lantzville	30.56	18.99	(30)	Ware Road
		32.38	20.12	(32)	Superior Road
		33.96	21.10	(34)	Lantzville Road
	Nanoose Bay	40.00	24.85	(39)	Northwest Bay Road
		40.33	25.06	(40)	Morello Road
		44.39	27.58	(44)	Northwest Bay Logging Road
	Parksville	46.19	28.70	46	Highway 19A north (Oceanside Route)	Craig's Crossing Interchange
		46.19	28.70	South end of Inland Island Highway
		51.75	32.16	51	Highway 4A west – Coombs	Allsbrook Interchange
	Qualicum Beach	60.71	37.72	60	Highway 4 west – Port Alberni	Hilliers Interchange
		75.15	46.70	75	Horne Lake Road – Qualicum Bay, Bowser
Comox Valley		87.25	54.21	87	Cook Creek Road – Deep Bay, Fanny Bay
		101.08	62.81	101	Buckley Bay Road (Highway 964:2360 east) – Buckley Bay, Union Bay, Royston	Interchange; access to Denman Island/Hornby Island ferry; Hwy 964:2360 is unsigned
	South end of Ginger Goodwin Way
	Cumberland	117.80	73.20	117	Comox Valley Parkway (Highway 964:2349 east) – Courtenay, Comox, CFB Comox, Ferries	Interchange; access to Powell River via ferry; Hwy 964:2349 is unsigned
	North end of Ginger Goodwin Way
		127.27	79.08	127	Piercy Road – Courtenay, Comox
		130.88	81.33	130	Dove Creek Road, Strathcona Parkway – Mount Washington
		144.10	89.54	144	Hamm Road – Black Creek
Strathcona		153.76	95.54	(154)	Cranberry Lane
	Campbell River	161.36	100.26	161	Jubilee Parkway (Highway 964:2364 east) – Campbell River Airport	Hwy 964:2364 is unsigned
		167.96	104.37	167	Willis Road
		170.43	105.90	(169)	Highway 28 west / Highway 19A south (Oceanside Route) – Gold River, City Centre, Quadra Island
		170.43	105.90	North end of Inland Island Highway
		234.24	145.55		Sayward Road (Highway 964:2371 north) – Sayward	Hwy 964:2371 is unsigned
Mount Waddington		320.96	199.44		Zeballos Mainline – Zeballos
		355.83	221.10		Beaver Cove Road (Highway 964:2391 east) – Telegraph Cove	Hwy 964:2391 is unsigned
	Port McNeill	363.08	225.61		Campbell Way (Highway 964:2396 north) – Alert Bay, Sointula	Hwy 964:2396 is unsigned
		382.69	237.79		Highway 30 west – Port Alice
	Port Hardy	398.98	247.91		Douglas Street (Highway 964:2398 north) – Port Hardy	South end of Bear Cove Highway segment; Hwy 19 branches right; Douglas Street is considered an unofficial alternate route of Hwy 19; Hwy 964:2398 is unsigned
		403.63	250.80	Bear Cove Ferry Terminal – BC Ferries to Central Coast and Prince Rupert. North end of Bear Cove Highway segment and Northern terminus.
		1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access Tolled Route transition () - Exit not officially numbered

References

^ "Hansard extract". July 26, 1979.
^ Landmark Kilometre Inventory (PDF). British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (Report). Cypher Consulting. July 2016. pp. 285–305. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2017-03-14.

External links

BC Highways - Highway 19

[1] "Hansard extract". July 26, 1979.

[length-2] Landmark Kilometre Inventory (PDF). British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (Report). Cypher Consulting. July 2016. pp. 285–305. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2017-03-14.

[1]

[2]

v t e Roads of British Columbia
Provincial highways	1² 1A 2 3² 3A¹ 3B 4 4A 5² 5A 6 7¹ 7B¹ 8 9 10¹ 11² 12 13 14 15¹ 16¹ 17² 17A² 18 19² 19A 20 21 22 22A 23 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 31A 33 35 37 37A 39 41 43 49 52 62 77 91² 91A² 93 95 95A 97² 97A 97B 97C² 97D 99² 101 113 118 395
Other provincially maintained roads	Atlin Road Bridge River Road Cecil Lake Road Chilliwack Lake Road Coalmont Road Columbia Valley Highway Deltaport Way Head Bay Road Hemlock Valley Road Highway 91 Connector Horsefly Road Jesmond Road Likely Road Mission Mountain Road Nazko Road Omineca Resource Road Pavilion Mountain Road Port Mellon Highway Queen Charlotte City–Skidegate Road Strathcona Parkway Telegraph Creek Road Westside Road
Former provincial highways	1A⁴ 1B 7A 17A⁴ 25 97E 97W 99A 99B² 401² 499²
Named highways	Alaska Highway Banff–Windermere Highway Caribou Highway¹ Coquihalla Highway² Crowsnest Highway² Don Phillips Way Heritage Highway Inland Island Highway² International Selkirk Loop¹ John Hart Highway¹ Liard Highway Lougheed Highway¹ Mary Hill Bypass¹ Nisga'a Highway Northern Woods and Water Route Okanagan Connector² Okanagan Highway² Pacific Highway¹ Patricia Bay Highway² Sea to Sky Highway² South Fraser Perimeter Road² Southern Yellowhead Highway² Stewart–Cassiar Highway Sunshine Coast Highway Trans-Canada Highway² Yellowhead Highway¹
Historic roads and trails	Atlin Road Big Bend Highway Cariboo Road Chilkoot Trail Dewdney Trail Dewdney Trunk Road Douglas Road Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail Lillooet Cattle Trail Okanagan Trail Old Cariboo Road Old Yale Road (Grand Trunk Road) Pacific Highway River Trail Whatcom Trail
¹ highways with expressway sections ² highways with expressway and freeway sections ³ highways under construction ⁴ designation reassigned to new route