They Travelled These Roads is carved in granite from Nelson Island on the Sunshine Coast that was hewn in Coquitlam. The circle of a saw blade, representing Fraser Mills, frames the junction of North Road and Clark Road where Burquitlam Station is now located. In 1859 Colonel Richard Moody had a pack trail built from New Westminster due north to Burrard Inlet — the first ‘road’ built in the new Colony of British Columbia. In 1861 the trail was upgraded to a wagon road — renamed North Road — to allow military supplies and personnel to come from Burrard Inlet should New Westminster be attacked from the south or the Fraser River freeze over.

 

By sharing this history of transportation in the area through art, I hope that transit users will gain a sense of their place in time and the continuum that connects the wagon roads of the 1800s to the Evergreen Line of the 21st century.