British Columbia Highway 99A

Highway 99A was 48 km (30 mi) long highway within Greater Vancouver and followed the original Highway 99 alignment between the Peace Arch Border Crossing and Downtown Vancouver and was designated in 1973 when the Deas (Island) Throughway was renamed Highway 99. Prior to that, the four-lane, divided "Deas (Island) Throughway" which was completed to the U.S. border in 1962, was designated Highway 499. Highway 99A was decommissioned by the province in 2006 and the city of Surrey renamed "King George Highway" to "King George Boulevard" in 2009,[2] although, as of July 2021, the Ministry of Transportation keeps two minor segments of the former route maintained in its inventory.[3]

Route description

Pattullo Bridge, seen from the Skybridge.

Highway 99A started in Surrey at the first exit off Highway 99 north of the Peace Arch and followed the King George Highway. Originally to be named the Peace Arch Highway, it was dedicated officially on October 16, 1940 as the King George VI Highway after the royal visit of 1939. The highway served as a route for commuters travelling to New Westminster, Burnaby, and Vancouver. The highway goes north for 8 km (5 mi) to an interchange with Highway 99, and from there, another 4 km (2.5 mi) to its junction with Highway 10. The highway continued north for another 9 km (5.6 mi) to Fraser Highway, where it merged with Highway 1A. Highways 1A and 99A continued northwest for 6 km (3.7 mi) to the Pattullo Bridge over the Fraser River, crossing from Surrey into New Westminster.

In New Westminster, Highway 99A followed McBride Boulevard and 10th Avenue, then onto Kingsway, where the highway entered Burnaby. Highway 99A then proceeded west-northwest for 6 km (3.7 mi) through the City of Burnaby to its intersection with Boundary Road, at which point the highway crossed into Vancouver. In Vancouver, Highway 99A continued on Kingsway northwest for 7 km (4.3 mi), then onto Main Street. Highway 99A followed Main Street north for 2 km (1.2 mi), then west onto the Dunsmuir Viaduct and Dunsmuir Street into the downtown core of the city to Burrard Street, where it reunited with Highway 99 on Georgia Street; southbound traffic followed Georgia Street to Main Street.

Major intersections

The entire route was in Metro Vancouver Regional District.

Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Surrey	0.0	0.0	Hwy 99 / 8 Avenue – Vancouver, United States Border, Seattle, White Rock	Hwy 99 exit 2; segment between 8 Ave and northbound entrance from Hwy 99 is still provincially maintained[3]
	8.0	5.0	Hwy 99 – Vancouver, U.S.A. Border	Hwy 99 exit 10; no access from northbound King George Blvd to southbound Hwy 99; segment from 121 m (397 ft) north of Crescent Road, across Nicomekl River Bridge to 40 Ave is still provincially maintained[3]
	10.2	6.3	Colebrook Road	Grade separated
	12.0– 12.2	7.5– 7.6	Hwy 10 (56 Avenue / 58 Avenue) – Delta, Langley, Hope	Split intersection
	20.8	12.9	Fraser Highway (Hwy 1A east)	South end of former Hwy 1A concurrency
	25.9	16.1	Scott Road	Grade separated
Fraser River	26.0– 27.2	16.2– 16.9	Pattullo Bridge North end of King George Boulevard • South end of McBride Boulevard
New Westminster	27.5	17.1	Royal Avenue / Columbia Street	Grade separated
Burnaby[lower-alpha 1] New Westminster[lower-alpha 2]	29.4	18.3	10th Avenue	Former Hwy 1A / Hwy 99A follows 10th Avenue
	31.4	19.5	10th Avenue 12th Street / Kingsway	Former Hwy 1A / Hwy 99A followed Kingsway
Vancouver	44.9– 45.1	27.9– 28.0	Broadway (Hwy 7) / Main Street	Former Hwy 1A / Hwy 99A followed Main Street
	46.5	28.9	Main Street Dunsmuir Street	Former Hwy 1A west / Hwy 99A north followed Dunsmuir Street; former Hwy 1A east / Hwy 99A south followed Georgia Street
	46.5– 47.4	28.9– 29.5	Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaduct
	47.9– 48.1	29.8– 29.9	Howe Street, Seymour Street (Hwy 99 south) – Airport (YVR), U.S. Border, Seattle Georgia Street (Hwy 99 north) / Hwy 1A west – West Vancouver, Horseshoe Bay, Whistler	One-way pair; Hwy 99A northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Footnotes

1. North of 10th Avenue
2. South of 10th Avenue

Between 1942 and 1962, the King George Highway was designated Highway 99, while the Highway 99A designation was given to the older Pacific Highway after it became the alternate U.S. border route. The highway began at the Pacific Highway Border Crossing near the locality of Douglas (now part of Surrey) and continued north to Cloverdale, where it shared the alignment with the Highway 1 (present-day Fraser Highway) to the King George Highway (Highway 99).[4] In 1958, the Pacific Highway was redesignated as Highway 15.

Between 1942 and 1962, the Grandview Highway was designated as Highway 99A, serving as an alternate route to Kingsway between Pattullo Bridge and Vancouver. From the bridge in New Westminster, Highway 99A followed McBride Boulevard and 8th Avenue to 8th Street (at the time, Highway 1/99 followed Columbia Street and 12th Street though downtown New Westminster to Kingsway).[5] After crossing 10th Avenue, Highway 99A entered into Burnaby and become Grandview Highway (sometimes referred to as the Douglas-Grandview Highway as it was known as Douglas Road prior to 1926).[6] At Boundary Road, Grandview Highway turned north for a few blocks before turning west and entering Vancouver, where it travelled in a west-northwest direction along Grandview Highway North to Clark Drive, where Highway 99A followed Clark Drive to the Grandview Viaduct and Terminal Avenue, rejoining Highway 1/99 at Main Street near the Pacific Central Station.[5]

Highway 401 was constructed to the north of Grandview Highway and opened in 1964, replacing Highway 99A as a regional east-west highway, and the route was reverted to the respective local municipalities. In 1968, the Douglas-Grandview Highway was renamed Canada Way in honour of the Canadian Centennial which was a year earlier.[6] Vancouver also later prioritized Grandview Highway to follow Grandview Highway South and connect with 12th Avenue, while Grandview Highway North experienced a series of traffic calming measures, which includes carrying a portion of the SkyTrain's Expo Line and later conversion to a greenway and bikeway.[7]