British Columbia Highway 23

Highway 23 is a north-south highway that straddles the Columbia River in the Columbia Country region of British Columbia, Canada. Its section north of Revelstoke is formerly known as the Big Bend Highway and was part of the original routing of Highway 1. The Big Bend area was well known as there was a gold rush there, beginning in 1864. Travelers used canoes or river steamers until a dirt-surfaced "highway" was built on the east bank around the Big Bend, from Revelstoke to Golden, from 1930 to 1937, opening officially in 1940, and it served as the trans-provincial highway until 1962 when the Rogers Pass portion of the Trans-Canada Highway was opened.

Highway 23
Nakusp – Mica Creek Highway
Route information
Length248 km[1] (154 mi)
Existed1926–present
Major junctions
South end Hwy 6 in Nakusp
  Hwy 31 at Galena Bay
Hwy 1 (TCH) near Revelstoke
North endMica Dam north of Revelstoke
Highway system
British Columbia provincial highways
Hwy 22A Hwy 24

Highway 23 was initially opened in 1964, and it was re-aligned through the latter half of the 1960s. Realignment of the highway also occurred in the early 1980s, in anticipation of the creation of the reservoir for the Revelstoke Dam (Revelstoke Lake), which flooded lower parts of the highway.

Route details

Highway 23, which is 250 km (155 mi) long, begins in the south at Nakusp, where it meets Highway 6. Highway 23 winds north along the eastern shore of Upper Arrow Lake for 49 km (30 mi) to its junction with Highway 31 at Galena Bay. The Upper Arrow Lake Ferry continues Highway 23 across Upper Arrow Lake to a location known as Shelter Bay. North of Shelter Bay, Highway 23 follows the west bank of the Columbia River for 49 km (30 mi) to where it meets the Trans-Canada Highway. Highway 23 follows the Trans-Canada east through the city of Revelstoke for 1 km (about ½ mi), finally turning north after leaving Revelstoke.

North of Revelstoke, Highway 23 entirely follows the east bank of Revelstoke Lake for 151 km (94 mi), past the old townsite of Mica Creek to its northern end at the Mica Dam facility.

Major intersections

Regional DistrictLocationkm[1]miDestinationsNotes
Central KootenayNakusp0.000.00 Hwy 6 Nelson, Castlegar, VernonHwy 23 southern terminus
Columbia-ShuswapGalena Bay44.9727.94 Hwy 31 east Trout Lake, Kaslo
46.8229.09 Upper Arrow Lake Ferry crosses Upper Arrow Lake
Kilometrage does not include ferry
Revelstoke95.8759.57 Hwy 1 (TCH) west Salmon Arm, KamloopsHwy 23 branches east; west end of Hwy 1 concurrency
96.4259.91Revelstoke Bridge crosses the Columbia River
96.8860.20Victoria Road – City Centre
97.3160.47 Hwy 1 (TCH) east Golden, CalgaryHwy 23 branches north; east end of Hwy 1 concurrency
247.82153.99Mica DamHwy 23 northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. Landmark Kilometre Inventory (PDF). British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (Report). Cypher Consulting. July 2016. pp. 60, 326–330. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
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