KG hwy/blvd discussion

[Silvermink]

Yeah, I would welcome the change of name to the street, ever since I moved here from Montreal, I wondered who honestly looked at King George and saw a highway... there are traffic lights at every block.. THERE ARE BLOCKS! Very un-highway like. I suppose a long while ago it was a highway, but then people started populating its environs? I dunno, I never had a history lesson on Vancouver, I was only taught Quebec history in school...

I think of something without blocks and traffic lights as a "freeway", but maybe that's just me. :)

[Rukario]

Yeah, I would welcome the change of name to the street, ever since I moved here from Montreal, I wondered who honestly looked at King George and saw a highway... there are traffic lights at every block.. THERE ARE BLOCKS! Very un-highway like. I suppose a long while ago it was a highway, but then people started populating its environs? I dunno, I never had a history lesson on Vancouver, I was only taught Quebec history in school...

I think of something without blocks and traffic lights as a "freeway", but maybe that's just me. :)

And a boulevard is a broad, tree-lined roadway. Which KG certainly is not. True, north of Hwy 10, it would be indistinguishable from 136 St (which is essentially what it is there), but between Hwy 10 and its southern end at the roundabout with 8 Ave (Hwy 99 J2), it definitely has the highway characteristics, ie. a major arterial route.  The name change is to try persuading people that KG is a Surrey road, as if to try to encouraging staying in Surrey, rather than seeing the road as the quickest way to GTFO from Surrey.

[Silvermink]

And a boulevard is a broad, tree-lined roadway. Which KG certainly is not. True, north of Hwy 10, it would be indistinguishable from 136 St (which is essentially what it is there), but between Hwy 10 and its southern end at the roundabout with 8 Ave (Hwy 99 J2), it definitely has the highway characteristics, ie. a major arterial route.  The name change is to try persuading people that KG is a Surrey road, as if to try to encouraging staying in Surrey, rather than seeing the road as the quickest way to GTFO from Surrey.

Dubbing King George Highway a "boulevard" would be a pretty sorry attempt at romanticizing it, for sure.

[Rukario]

Dubbing King George Highway a "boulevard" would be a pretty sorry attempt at romanticizing it, for sure.

Lame!  Apparently the original plan was to just change the name of the Whalley part (along with the other Whalley roads, now Boulevards). But they've gone and done the entire length of it instead.

[Carthage]

Can we maybe split the KG hwy/blvd discussion off from the furmeet topic?

[Silvermink]

Lame!  Apparently the original plan was to just change the name of the Whalley part (along with the other Whalley roads, now Boulevards). But they've gone and done the entire length of it instead.

Suddenly I'm overcome with the desire to move to Whalley! I mean, it has boulevards! How European!

...no, not really. :)

(I grew up in Surrey, so I'm allowed to rag on it, right? ;D)

[Silvermink]

Can we maybe split the KG hwy/blvd discussion off from the furmeet topic?

Can't say I really intended this to become a "discussion", as such, but hey, whatever... :)

[mediar]

You can also look out Mountain Hwy in North Vancouver, has lights and etc. Don't forget these streets were named a long time ago.. Traffic patterns change, names stay the same.

[Carthage]

We should start naming roads after geographic coordinates. We'd never be able to find anything without a GPS, but at least you'd know EXACTLY where things were.

[mediar]

We should start naming roads after geographic coordinates. We'd never be able to find anything without a GPS, but at least you'd know EXACTLY where things were.

The view of the mountains is enough GPS for me ;)

[Fargo]

A bit of a history lesson for those who aren't familliar with the route in question:
The King George Hwy was, and still is a numbered highway. 1A*/99A to be exact. Prior to the current route of Hwy 99, This route was the highway you took from Vancouver to Surrey, then south through Newton, White Rock and finally, the Canada/US Border. That all changed in the late 1950's/early 1960's when the current freeway was built.

As Medair pointed out about the Mountain Highway in North Van, The KGH isn't the only highway that has traffic lights on it. In fact, prior to 1992, where the Cassiar Tunnel is now, used to be a major at grade intersection where Hwy 7 crossed the TCH. That was the last spot in BC, where a freeway had traffic lights on it. As he pointed out, traffic patterns change, but the names stay the same.

[mediar]

A bit of a history lesson for those who aren't familliar with the route in question:
The King George Hwy was, and still is a numbered highway. 1A*/99A to be exact. Prior to the current route of Hwy 99, This route was the highway you took from Vancouver to Surrey, then south through Newton, White Rock and finally, the Canada/US Border. That all changed in the late 1950's/early 1960's when the current freeway was built.

As Medair pointed out about the Mountain Highway in North Van, The KGH isn't the only highway that has traffic lights on it. In fact, prior to 1992, where the Cassiar Tunnel is now, used to be a major at grade intersection where Hwy 7 crossed the TCH. That was the last spot in BC, where a freeway had traffic lights on it. As he pointed out, traffic patterns change, but the names stay the same.

There were also lights on the #1 at Lonsdale Ave and at Westview in the early 90s. Thank god they are long gone.

[Rukario]

A highway is not necessarily a freeway.  A highway is just a major arterial route.  Just a note, Fraser Highway still has its name unchanged.

[mediar]

A highway is not necessarily a freeway.  A highway is just a major arterial route.  Just a note, Fraser Highway still has its name unchanged.

Yes of course, Fraser lol. I forgot about that one and I live 5 block from it :P

There is also the Dollarton Hwy in Eastern North Van.

[Rukario]

Speaking of old road names, there's Dewdney Trunk Road at its starting point in Coquitlam.  Hardly a trunk road of any sort.