British Columbia Highway 19

Highway 19
Island Highway Inland Island Highway
Route information
Length:	406 km (252 mi)
Existed:	1953 – present
Major junctions
South end:	Duke Point Ferry Terminal
	BC 1 in Nanaimo BC 19A south in Nanaimo BC 19A north at Craig's Crossing BC 4A near Parksville BC 4 near Qualicum Beach BC 19A / BC 28 in Campbell River BC 30 between and Port McNeill and Port Hardy
North end:	Bear Cove Ferry Terminal
Highway system
British Columbia provincial highways ← BC 18 BC 19A →

British Columbia provincial highways

Highway 19, known locally as the Island Highway, is the main north-south thoroughfare on Vancouver Island north of Nanaimo. A highway has existed on the Island since about 1912. Originally, gravel and rough, the highway was an essential link together with the E and N 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 406 km (252 mi).

Completed in 1953, the highway was built over most of the original highway 19A. By 1979, the highway was extended north to Port Hardy, where it terminated at the Beaver Cove ferry terminal. Before 1979, 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 Craig's Crossing and Campbell River, while another express route was built in the western part of Nanaimo, extending the highway further south to the new Duke Point ferry terminal. This makes Highway 19 the only numbered highway in B.C. to have ferry terminals at both ends.

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.

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Wikipedia