Tsawwassen ferry terminal

Tsawwassen is a ferry terminal and a major transportation facility in Delta, British Columbia, part of the BC Ferries system and Highway 17. Positioned less than 500 m from the 49th parallel along the Canada–United States border, it is located at the southwestern end of a 2 km causeway that juts out into the Strait of Georgia off the mainland at the community of Tsawwassen. With an approximate size of 23 ha, it is the largest ferry terminal in North America.

History
In the late 1950s, the search for a mainland ferry terminal that would connect British Columbia's Lower Mainland with the Victoria area on Vancouver Island involved extensive scouting of locations, from Steveston to White Rock. Despite concerns of rough seas and bad weather, the favoured site soon became the area offshore from the Tsawwassen First Nation reserve.

Construction of the terminal began in 1959, after BC Transportation Minister Phil Gaglardi, on divided engineering advice, selected the site. Construction of an artificial island began, and the causeway was built from the island back towards the mainland. The endeavour used an estimated 2.3 e6m3 of boulder, rock, and gravel fill.

To connect Highway 99 to the new terminal, an 11 km highway was constructed near the southern end of the Deas Tunnel and through the edge of Ladner and became a portion of Highway 17. The terminal opened on June 15, 1960.

In the mid-1990s, a major renovation and expansion of the terminal was undertaken.

Issues
The isolated causeway location of the terminal was criticized locally in its formative years but has allowed and continues to allow terminal expansion to cope with growing vehicle traffic.

In 2003, the Tsawwassen First Nation filed legal action in the BC Supreme Court over the destruction of the foreshore and other concerns caused by the impact of the terminal and the nearby Roberts Bank Superport. Concerns were also expressed in 2005 about eutrophication, or destructive bacterial buildup, in the waters between the terminal and the Roberts Bank facility.

Ferry facilities and connections
Currently, there are five berths at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. The terminal primarily serves routes travelling to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, north of Victoria, and the southern Gulf Islands.

On May 1, 1990, a connection from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo called the "Mid-Island Express" was established, providing the fastest surface connection between Northern Vancouver Island and the border with the United States at Blaine, and, since the opening of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, to the Fraser Valley and points east. The route ran to Departure Bay until 1997, when the Duke Point ferry terminal opened.

The quickest path between the terminal and Active Pass, for ferries travelling to the Gulf Islands or to Swartz Bay, passes over approximately 8 km of United States waters in the Strait of Georgia.

The terminal is served by public transportation through TransLink's 620 bus route.