Geometric Design Guidelines for B.C. Roads

Geometric Design Guides

The information on this page provides road design guidelines for the highway system in British Columbia.

The latest edition of the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads is the primary source for basic design principles. The AASHTO document, A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, 7th Edition, is recommended as a secondary reference for basic design principles.

The B.C. Supplement to TAC explains the preferred recommended practice for use on British Columbia transportation projects.

B.C. Supplement to TAC (2019)

  • B.C. Supplement to TAC Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads
    (PDF, 66MB, 599 pages - April 2019 Version)
     
  • The current up-to-date downloadable version is April 2019
  • The current published hard copy version is April 2019
  • New and revised content will be provided below as it becomes available
  • Individual chapters are also available below

​Updates for B.C. Supplement to TAC

  • The full version for download always includes all updates
  • Updated sections of the supplement are posted below (with release date)
  • Technical Bulletins contain unpublished updates and additions
    • contain new guidelines or instructions
    • will be removed once incorporated into future updates

Printing Instructions

  • Technical printing details - 8½x11 (letter) or 11x17 (tabloid), single-sided or double-sided, and colour or black and white
  • The entire supplement may be printed, updated sections may be printed for insertion/replacement to existing hard copies
  • Printing Instructions 2019 (PDF)

Individual Chapters

Individual chapters are provided in PDF format for quicker download and to enable the replacement of updated individual sections as required.

Individual Chapters for B.C. Supplement to TAC
Chapter Name DL Pages Size Updated
Entire Document (April 2019 version) PDF 599 66 MB  
Front Matter PDF 12 1.5 MB  
Table of Contents PDF 2 190 KB  
100 Highway Design Process PDF 46 1.9 MB  
200 Classification (no content)        
300 Alignment PDF 18 820 KB  
400 Cross Sections PDF 18 2.5 MB  
500 Low-Volume Roads PDF 18 960 KB  
600 Safety Elements PDF 51 5.9 MB  
700 Intersections and Access PDF 62 21 MB  
800 Interchanges (no content)        
900 Auxiliary Facilities PDF 42 1.4 MB  
1000 Hydraulics PDF 62 8.9 MB  
1100 Railway Crossings & Utilities PDF 32 2.4 MB  
1200 Contracts and Drawings (8½x11) PDF 86 9.0 MB  
1200 Contracts and Drawings (11x17) PDF 18 1.7 MB  
1300 Geometric Improvements PDF 50 400 KB  
1400 Subdivision Roads PDF 42 4.0 MB  
1500 Alpine Ski Village Roads PDF 32 3.4 MB  
1600 Noise Policy PDF 8 260 KB