to Sky Highway). The Lower Mainland is also connected to the U.S. by four highway border crossings with the Peace Arch on Interstate 5 being the largest. Several freeways connect lower mainland communities together. The backbone of Vancouver Island's highway network is the Highway 19 which along with a portion of Highway 1 forms the Island Highway. The Island highway is a mix of 4-lane freeway, 4 lane arterial highway and 2 lane highway running roughly along the east shore of Vancouver Island. Access to the west coast of Vancouver Island can be accomplished by crossing mountain passes on Highway 4 to Tofino and Highway 28 to Gold River. Thousands of other roads ranging from small freeways near Victoria to logging roads exist all over the Island. Although the Sunshine Coast is on the mainland it is connected to the highway network only by ferries. It has one route which is Highway 101, a narrow curvy 2 lane road split in two by a ferry crossing. Texada Island, a large island off the Sunshine Coast and has its own network of highway standard roads although they are unnumbered. Owing to the challenging topography of the British Columbia Coast, there is no north–south highway linking the coastal communities of the province between Port Hardy and Kitimat. Instead, travellers utilize one of the coastal ferry lines operated by BC Ferries. The exceptions are Bella Coola is accessible by a long largely gravel Highway 20 from the B.C interior over a high pass; and the towns of Terrace, Prince Rupert and Kitimat which is assessed from the B.C. interior on Highway 16. Haida Gwaii has an extension of Highway 16 on it, one of Haida Gwaii's few paved roads. Maritime routes The sheltered waterways of the British Columbia Coast form part of the Inside Passage, a coastal maritime route along which vessels navigate to avoid the rough waters and bad weather of the open North Pacific. As such, the maritime route is heavily trafficked by cruise ships, cargo ships, ferries, and other marine vessels. BC Ferries, an independently managed publicly-owned company, operates scheduled daily crossings between major population centres throughout the British Columbia Coast. Dozens of smaller ferries ply lesser routes within and between these regions. The Alaska Marine Highway also operates nonstop ferry service through the British Columbia Coast along its Bellingham-Ketchikan route. Ports The Port of Vancouver is the largest commercial