this year marks 30 years of Expo 86! to highlight this i look at a very important project that was directly to do with the event.

Expo 86 in Vancouver was the second worlds fair held in Canada after Expo 67 in Montreal.

the Pavilions were massive, but Vancouver faced a immense issue. How to get people to the event itself! 22 million were expected to visit, the Fraser canyon highway designated and built in the early 1940s was not up to the task of carrying visitors to Vancouver since it was a primitive 2 lane highway. it couldn't be widened due to the canyon being traversed by both CN and CP rail mainlines and the sheer walls of the canyon itself.

So the BC government put a plan ahead for a third route through the mountains to help with flow on both the 99 and the trans canada. also it was to serve the crowsnest highway to the south and Okanagan. The Coquihalla Highway was born!

plans had been devised for a highway as early as 1975 but when it was announced in 1980 that Vancouver would hold the Expo there was a fast track put on development. Finally in 1984 the contract was signed and the first phase Hope to Merrit began. 115 kms to be built through the rugged Coastal Range in 20 months. Phase 2 to Kamloops would be added shortly after.

It was the largest highway construction project in North America in such a time frame.