British Columbia Highway 17

The Island section of Highway 17 is known as the Patricia Bay Highway (locally abbreviated as the Pat Bay Highway) after nearby Patricia Bay, and is the main artery through the Saanich Peninsula, mostly travelling along its eastern coast. The highway is four lanes all the way from Victoria to Swartz Bay. The total length of the highway on the Island is 32 kilometres (20 mi). Highway 17 has had its present course through the area since 1978 when the Blanshard extension was completed.[3]

In the south, Highway 17 begins at the intersection of Belleville and Oswego streets,[4] at the entrance to the Victoria Harbour ferry terminal, which provides a ferry connection to Port Angeles, Washington. It travels east for 600 m (0.37 mi), past the grounds of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, to Douglas Street where it intersects the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). It travels another 180 m (0.11 mi) east, where the highway turns north as Blanshard Street (a six lane divided city street) for 3 km (1.9 mi) through the city of Victoria before leaving the city at Tolmie Avenue and for another 2 km (1.2 mi) north through the district of Saanich to the Uptown Shopping Centre; Highway 17 then becomes the Pat Bay Highway and turns into a 6 km (3.7 mi)-long freeway, with three interchanges. After the third interchange at Royal Oak Drive, Highway 17 turns into a 14 km (8.7 mi) mix of divided four-lane arterial and expressway including an interchange at McTavish Road, until it reaches the town of Sidney. After exiting Sidney 3 km (1.9 mi) later, the Pat Bay once again becomes a freeway, with two more interchanges along its length, toward its northern terminus at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal another 3 km (1.9 mi) north.

At Swartz Bay, Highway 17 leaves Vancouver Island, and starts on a 44 km (24 nmi)-long ferry route through the Southern Gulf Islands and the Strait of Georgia. The ferry route between Swartz Bay and the Mainland is the oldest and most heavily used route in the B.C. Ferries system. After winding through the Gulf Islands, the route enters a small passage between Galiano and Mayne Islands, known as Active Pass. Active Pass is the midway point on the Highway 17 ferry route, but it is also the most hazardous part, as it has strong tidal currents, and has historically been the site of two maritime collisions involving BC Ferries vessels, as well as one incident of a ferry running aground. Consequently, ferries going through Active Pass have to sound their whistles upon entering and leaving the passage, and must adhere to a lower speed limit while transiting through it.

After Active Pass, the Highway 17 ferry heads due northeast across the Strait of Georgia. Halfway across the Strait, the route begins transiting United States waters for just under 9 km (5 nmi). It then crosses the 49th parallel back into Canadian waters just before landing at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal.

Highway 17 looking South near Port Mann (Surrey) British Columbia. New and old Port Mann Bridge in background.

On the Mainland, Highway 17 is known as the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR), a component of the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation's Gateway Program. It is a four-lane highway with a mix of freeway and expressway sections. The highway has a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) over most of its length, connecting the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal and Highway 99 in Delta to Highway 1 at 176th Street in Surrey, and providing access to all five of the major Fraser River crossings in Metro Vancouver.[5] The mainland section is notable for its extensive use of noise walls, split level construction through Delta and use in some urban sections of so-called Quiet Pavement to reduce traffic noise.[6]

The South Fraser Perimeter Road is 44 kilometres (27 mi) long. Beginning at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, it heads northeast on a 1.8-kilometre (1.1 mi) long causeway to land on the Tsawwassen Peninsula, then continues northeast for 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to an interchange with Highway 17A. It then follows the CN Railway's Deltaport chord and 72nd Street northeast for 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) to an interchange with Highway 99. The road then runs through the west side of Burns Bog, but avoiding the conservation area, and past the south side of the Tilbury and Sunbury industrial areas for 9.7 kilometres (6.0 mi) before it reaches the Fraser River at an interchange connecting to Highway 91 via Highway 91 Connector. It then proceeds east along the south bank of the Fraser River through North Delta and Surrey, passing under the Alex Fraser, Pattullo and Port Mann bridges, before turning southeast at Surrey Bend Regional Park to terminate at its junction with Highway 1 and Highway 15, 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Highway 91 Connector.

Prior to 1978, the southern terminus of Highway 17 was at the present-day intersection of Highway 1 (Douglas Street) and Carey Road. In 1978, the highway was extended and aligned along Blanshard Street through Downtown Victoria to the Inner Harbour in an effort to improve traffic flow.[7]

Route 17 once followed what is now Route 17A and terminated at the Highway 99 interchange before the George Massey Tunnel. The provincial government proposed to build a new expressway, the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR), linking the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal with the Trans-Canada Highway. According to the Ministry of Transportation, the South Fraser Perimeter Road will improve the movement of goods and people across the region while also alleviating truck traffic on municipal roads. West–east travel times across the region will also be significantly reduced.[8]

The South Fraser Perimeter Road project was opposed by a number of groups, citing a variety of concerns. The SFPR alignment does not go through the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area.[9] However, the Burns Bog Conservation Society has stated they are concerned that it will affect surrounding hydrology, and have an adverse effect on the Conservancy Area.[10]

The Burns Bog Conservation Society expressed concerns that the South Fraser Perimeter Road would endanger Burns Bog.[11] In response to the mitigation measures proposed the Environmental Stewardship Branch of Environment Canada wrote that "... the changes are not sufficient to alleviate its concerns related to the impacts of the Project on Pacific Water Shrew (PWS), hydrology, aerial deposition, and ecological integrity of Burns Bog."[12] On November 24, 2010 the Burns Bog Conservation Society launched a lawsuit intend to force the re-routing or cancellation of the SFPR project.[13] Burns Bog has been listed as threatened by the International Mire Conservation Group because of the impacts of the SFPR.[14]

The Wilderness Committee and other groups have criticized the SFPR, and the Gateway Program in general, for increasing greenhouse gas emissions.[15] In early 2011, a protest camp organized by StopThePave.org and the Council of Canadians occupied a SFPR construction site for almost two weeks.[16]

The SFPR Project worked with the Burns Bog Scientific Advisory Panel to develop systems, which helped improve the existing drainage / hydrology of the bog.

A 10-kilometre-long (6.2 mi) portion from 136 Street in Surrey to a junction with Highway 15 and Highway 1 was the first portion of the SFPR to be completed, opening on December 1, 2012. The remaining western segment of the road was completed on December 21, 2013.[17] The former Mainland portion of Highway 17 north of the 28th Avenue overpass has been renamed to Highway 17A through Ladner.[6] The total cost of building the SFPR was $1.26 billion.[18]

On March 10, 2017, an announcement was made to address congestion at Highway 17 (Delta): an extension of westbound slip lane from Tilbury Connector (80th Avenue) intersection, replacement of the traffic light-controlled Highway 91 Connector with an interchange, and construction of a new interchange at River Road. This would make the road a freeway all the way to Tannery Road. Funding will come from the Canadian government, the BC Government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, and the Tsawwassen First Nation; the total cost is expected to be just over $245 million.[19] Construction started in spring 2020 and the new River Road interchange opened on December 3, 2021.[20] The new Highway 91 Connector interchange reached completion in November 2022.[21][22]