between Osoyoos and Rock Creek. Highway 3 is predated by the
Dewdney Trail, a trail used in the mid-19th century that connected the
Lower Mainland to present-day
Fort Steele, roughly paralleling the
Canada–United States border; about 80% of the present-day highway follows the historic trail. In the early 20th century, the province began to upgrade its trails to roads, and in 1928, it was the first automobile route that connected to the
Alberta border. Designated as the
Southern Trans-Provincial Highway, it ran from
Vancouver to
Crowsnest Pass and later designated as ''Route 'A';'' the route followed
Kingsway and
Yale Road from Vancouver to
Hope, then turning north to
Spences Bridge. The route then turned southeast and passed through
Merritt and
Princeton along present-day
Highway 8 and
Highway 5A before travelling east through
Osoyoos,
Grand Forks and
Trail. The route included major ferry crossings at
Castlegar,
Nelson, and
Balfour, before continuing through
Creston and
Cranbrook to the Alberta border. In 1932, a more northern route following the mainline of the
Canadian Pacific Railway known as the
Central Trans-Provincial Highway and designated as ''Route 'B''' was chosen as the future alignment of the
Trans-Canada Highway. reducing the highway distance from approximately to . In 1954, a new highway was constructed from Trail to
Salmo and was designated as
Highway 3A. On November 7, 1957, the $4 million West Arm Bridge (also known as the Nelson Bridge) was opened across the West Arm of
Kootenay Lake in Nelson, replacing ferry service. The 1960s saw the construction of several major realignments and upgrades along the highway. In 1965, the Rossland-Sheep Lake Highway was completed, linking to the new
Christina Lake-Castlegar section through
Bonanza Pass (opened in 1962 with the completion of the Paulson Bridge), replacing a gravel mountain road that had connected
Cascade City and Rossland. The
Kootenay Skyway from Salmo to Creston through
Kootenay Pass opened on August 15, 1964, reducing the distance from to , bypassing Nelson and
Kootenay Lake Ferry. (the bypassed section became Highway 3A), along with the Kinnaird Bridge in Castlegar, bypassing the final ferry crossing. According to the B.C. MOTI, the replacement road was built a relatively short period of thirteen days. The highway built immediately after the slide has now been bypassed by a new four lane alignment to the south, which opened in 1982. With the opening of the Trans-Canada Highway through
Rogers Pass in 1962, Their efforts were successful when the route was renamed the
Crowsnest Highway in 1977, with new route shields appearing a few years later. As part of the first phase of the
Coquihalla Highway which opened in 1986, a section of the Crowsnest Highway was upgraded to a freeway, including a bypass of the old segment through Hope, which was renamed to
Hope-Princeton Way. As a result of the
November 2021 Pacific Northwest floods, the Crowsnest Highway was damaged by landslides, while the
Trans-Canada Highway and
Coquihalla Highway had bridges that were completely washed out. Officials projected that Highway 3 would be the first of several damaged routes to reopen, and thus be the first to reconnect Canada's road network to Metro Vancouver. After this occurred, Highway 3 suffered from a high rate of crashes as it experienced volumes of truck traffic traveling at speeds faster than posted speed limits. == Major intersections ==