Buckle up! A new video from B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is taking people on a scenic trip down memory lane on Vancouver Island.
The video takes viewers on a virtual ride from Victoria to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal via Pat Bay Highway in the spring of 1966.
Images of 1960s cars whizzing past and school children dressed for the era adds to the nostalgic feel of the video.
Old photologs of the route were edited together to create the single video effect. The photologs were taken with a dashcam rigged to a car which snapped the images approximately every 25 metres.
The province’s former Highways Department – now known as the Transportation ministry – may have been the first in Canada to capture this kind of images, which makes the video all the more special.
The description below the video details some major changes to the route since then, including the fact that a large portion of Highway 17 was called East Saanich Road at the time.
Quadra Street also connects right to the highway, as the Quadra Street overpass was not built until the 1970s.
Another notable difference is that McKenzie Avenue at the time was a small rural street with no connection to Highway 1. Commuters would travel alongside the Swan Lake/Christmas Hill site, then cross McKenzie Avenue towards Royal Oak.
The final leg of the journey showcases the retro ferry traffic signs and sectioned-off lines for vehicles preparing to board the ferries.
The photolog series can be found on the ministry’s YouTube channel and also includes other popular routes, such as the trip from Maple Ridge to Burnaby and from Horseshoe Bay to New Westminster in 1966.
