  highway 3a is the designation of two segments of highway in the southern part of british columbia. ==kootenays - castlegar-nelson-creston highway== thumb|alt=alt text|cyclists along british columbia highway 3a near kootenay lake. this was the first segment of highway in british columbia to receive the '3a' designation. it acquired this designation when the crowsnest highway was routed into the kootenay pass area in 1964. originally, a ferry was used to route highway 3a over the columbia river near castlegar, which was replaced by a bridge in 1967. ===route details=== the 154&nbsp;km (96&nbsp;mi) long kootenay section of highway 3a begins at castlegar, where it leaves highway 3 and travels 20&nbsp;km (12&nbsp;mi) northeast to south slocan, where highway 6 merges onto highway 3a. the two highways proceed east for 22&nbsp;km (14&nbsp;mi) to nelson, where highway 6 diverges south. 34&nbsp;km (21&nbsp;mi) northeast of nelson, highway 3a reaches balfour, on the western shore of kootenay lake. a ferry takes highway 3a across kootenay lake to kootenay bay. highway 3a then follows the eastern shore of kootenay lake for 78&nbsp;km (48&nbsp;mi) south through crawford bay, boswell, and wynndel to creston, where it rejoins highway 3. ==similkameen to okanagan - keremeos-kaleden junction-osoyoos highway== a new section of highway through the richter pass from keremeos to osoyoos was opened in 1965. the 2-lane crowsnest highway was re-routed through this area in 1967, and the segment between keremeos and osoyoos was given the highway 3 southern trans-c
British_Columbia_provincial_highways Highways_in_the_Okanagan Interior_of_British_Columbia Kootenays Similkameen_Country