8. There are fences on both sides of the highway (100 km long) to keep deer and moose off the road. There are 25 underpasses and 1 overpass that allow the animals to roam freely in that area. This wildlife protection system is successful. Very few animals have been killed on the Connector.

9. The Coquihalla Highway was difficult to build because of the mountainous terrain. The highway needed to have gradually sloping hills and gentle curves, so builders had to move tons of rock. They had to deal with snow and avalanche paths. They had to cross fish spawning grounds. There was time pressure to finish before Expo 86.

Discussion Questions

1. Roads allow people to easily travel to other parts of the province and the country. Roads encourage people to settle in an area. People don’t feel cut off from everyone else. Roads increase tourism, providing jobs and money. Roads provide access to natural resources, again providing jobs and money. Roads provide communication links as well as business and recreation opportunities. Roads improve the quality of life for people.

2. It is now easier and faster for Okanagan residents to travel to Vancouver. Residents are likely to travel more often. People from the West Coast are more likely to travel to the Okanagan. They like what they see, so they move here, open businesses here, and come as tourists more often. Towns, especially Kelowna, have grown. This makes some old-time residents unhappy. They don’t like the changes – more traffic on city streets, greater pressure on services (water supply, waste management, health care, etc).