Fraser Highway is a 38-kilometre-long (24 mi) major arterial road in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia . Connecting the cities of Surrey and Abbotsford , the highway formerly constituted a major portion of British Columbia Highway 1A until the latter was decommissioned in 2006. The highway is named for the Fraser River and the Fraser Valley , which are in turn named for the explorer Simon Fraser .
17-758: The road was one of the first motor highways in British Columbia, being formed from portions of the Old Yale wagon road in the 1920s, and was known as the Inter-Provincial Highway but its importance as an east-west corridor was diminished with the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway in the 1960s. Nonetheless, it remains an important thoroughfare. Running roughly parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway, it
34-608: A destroyed bridge, caused by wild cattle driven over it. It was not until 1891 that the section of the Old Yale Road from Chilliwack to Hope could be considered in any sense permanent. During the automobile era after the First World War, the road saw improvements and new alignments to efficiently move cars and trucks through the Fraser Valley. After Sumas Lake was reclaimed and converted to farmland in 1925,
51-521: A rough trail, built over a primitive footpath. Credit for the trail has gone to Yale butcher Jonathan Reece who wanted to source his meat from a location closer than Oregon. After convincing some other men to invest in land for farming in Chilliwack, he proceeded to cut a 50-mile-long trail through heavy forest with the help of a relative and a native local. Construction began in 1874 for a wagon road between New Westminster and Hope roughly paralleling
68-726: Is at King George Boulevard and 98th Avenue in the Whalley Town Centre of Surrey, just south of the King George SkyTrain Station . From there, it passes through the mixed residential, commercial, and rural neighbourhoods of Green Timbers, Fleetwood , and Cloverdale . Leaving Surrey, the route bisects the City of Langley, before entering the more rural neighbourhoods of Murrayville , and Aldergrove in Langley Township. The eastern terminus
85-617: Is at the Trans-Canada Highway, just east of Mount Lehman Road, in the Clearbrook neighbourhood of Abbotsford. Cape Horn Interchange Old Yale Road The Old Yale Road is a historic early wagon road between New Westminster , British Columbia , Canada and Yale, British Columbia , and servicing the Fraser Valley of the British Columbia Lower Mainland in the late 19th century and into
102-502: Is often used as an alternative or feeder route for it. The Fraser Highway runs in a generally southeast-northwest direction, roughly paralleling the Trans Canada Highway to the north of it. It alternates back and forth between one lane each direction (total of 2 lanes) to two lanes each direction (total of 4 lanes) between rural and urban surroundings. Its western terminus is at King George Boulevard and 98th Avenue in
119-407: The Whalley Town Centre of Surrey, just south of the King George SkyTrain Station . From there, it passes through the mixed residential, commercial, and rural neighbourhoods of Green Timbers, Fleetwood , and Cloverdale . Leaving Surrey, the route bisects the City of Langley, before entering the more rural neighbourhoods of Murrayville , and Aldergrove in Langley Township. The eastern terminus
136-610: The City of Chilliwack designated the Yale Road East section as the “Trans-Canada Parallel Route” . Sections of Yale Road and Old Yale Road continue to exist in the Fraser Valley as local roads. Some of the old road beds are now on private property. The road maintains much of its historic characteristics – winding sections, narrow pavement, avoidance of steep terrain, and usage as a route for local above ground telephone and electricity services. A section in Langley, (South of
153-544: The Langley Municipal Airport) remains constructed of concrete panels dating from 1923. Notes References Fraser Highway Fraser Highway is a 38-kilometre-long (24 mi) major arterial road in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia . Connecting the cities of Surrey and Abbotsford , the highway formerly constituted a major portion of British Columbia Highway 1A until
170-550: The construction of the Trans-Canada Highway in the 1960s. Nonetheless, it remains an important thoroughfare. Running roughly parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway, it is often used as an alternative or feeder route for it. The Fraser Highway runs in a generally southeast-northwest direction, roughly paralleling the Trans Canada Highway to the north of it. It alternates back and forth between one lane each direction (total of 2 lanes) to two lanes each direction (total of 4 lanes) between rural and urban surroundings. Its western terminus
187-525: The early 20th. It eventually became an early highway route for automobiles through the valley and into the British Columbia interior beyond Yale. It would eventually be part of, then surpassed by, the Fraser Highway , the Trans-Canada Highway and the Highway 1 . While the famed Cariboo Wagon Road from Yale north to the gold fields was completed in 1865, it was years before a Lower Mainland road
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#1732779519517204-424: The highway was re-routed off the old Yale Road route in a more direct alignment through the eastern Fraser Valley between Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Though unpaved, the road was deemed passable by automobile in the mid-1920s; Realignments and pavement came in the 1930s along with renaming as the Fraser Highway (designated as "Highway 'A'" on road maps). As the Trans-Canada Highway (designated Highway 1 in 1941),
221-475: The latter was decommissioned in 2006. The highway is named for the Fraser River and the Fraser Valley , which are in turn named for the explorer Simon Fraser . The road was one of the first motor highways in British Columbia, being formed from portions of the Old Yale wagon road in the 1920s, and was known as the Inter-Provincial Highway but its importance as an east-west corridor was diminished with
238-595: The old Yale Road route saw further abandonment as the main highway of the valley with the by-passing of the Chilliwack-Rosedale-Bridal Falls section (constructed circa-1958-60) and the Fraser Highway section between New Westminster and Abbotsford by the “401” Freeway (constructed 1960–64). Until recently, the Fraser Highway (to Abbotsford) and Chilliwack-Rosedale (Yale Road East) sections were designated as B.C. Highway 1A . In 2005,
255-484: The road followed Reece's old trail through Rosedale and Bridal Falls, then northeasterly along the south shore of the Fraser River through Cheam View and Laidlaw to Hope and Yale. Reports during 1876–77 by the road superintendent, George Landvoight, described how the road 25 miles (40 km) west of Hope was impassable for months on end due to damage from river flood washouts. He also described other damage such as
272-696: The route of the Telegraph Trail of 1865. On maps it was called the New Westminster and Yale (Wagon) Road , but known locally as Yale Road . The route of Yale Road ran from New Westminster in a southeasterly direction through Langley Prairie and Aldergrove to Abbotsford. The road proceeded to curve south to follow a path along the south shore of Sumas Lake and along the north base of the Vedder Mountains through Yarrow , Vedder Crossing, north to Sardis and Chilliwack. From Chilliwack,
289-484: Was completed to Hope and Yale. To move men and supplies to the gold fields, service by river steamers was inaugurated in 1858. The navigable sections of the Fraser River proved the easiest and cheapest route of travel. As late as 1873, the Hudson's Bay Company foot trail ( "Fur Brigade Trail" ) was the only land route between Fort Langley and Chilliwack . The section between Chilliwack and Yale dates back to 1862 as
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