Alberta Provincial Highway No. 49, commonly referred to as Highway 49, is a highway in northwestern Alberta, Canada. It runs east-west from the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

to Donnelly, and then north-south to Valleyview. Highway 49 has a total length of . The portion of Highway 49 from Donnelly to the British Columbia is also known as the Spirit River Highway. It also comprises the westernmost segment of Alberta's portion of the

Northern Woods and Water Route The Northern Woods and Water Route is a route through northern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Western Canada. As early as the 1950s, community groups came together to establish a northern travel route; this was proposed ...

. After Donnelly, the Northern Woods and Water Route continues eastward along Highway 2 and then

Highway 55 The following highways are numbered 55: International * European route E55 * Arab Mashreq route M55 Argentina * San Luis Provincial Route 55 Australia * Carnarvon Highway * Castlereagh Highway * Karoonda Highway Belgium * N55 road (Belgiu ...

.''Alberta Official Road Map'' (Map) (2015 ed.). City of Edmonton Transportation Services for Alberta Culture and Tourism. § F–1, F–2, F–3, F–3, G–3. Its southernmost section, between Highway 2 and Highway 43, is designated as a core route of Canada's National Highway System.

Route description

Highway 49 begins at the Alberta/British Columbia border (where it continues as British Columbia Highway 49 to the City of

Dawson Creek Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 12,978 in 2016. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after ...

) west of the locality of Bay Tree and is part of the Northern Woods and Water Route. The highway passes through Bay Tree, the locality of Gordondale, the Town of Spirit River, before intersecting Highway 2 in the Village of Rycroft. The highway continues east, passing by the hamlets of Wanham,

Eaglesham Eaglesham ( ) is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, situated about south of Glasgow, southeast of Newton Mearns and south of Clarkston, and southwest of East Kilbride. The 2011 census revealed that the village had 3,114 occupants, do ...

Tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points on the curve. More ...

, and Watino before crossing the

Smoky River The Smoky River is a river in western Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the Peace River. The descriptive name refers to the presence of "smouldering beds of coal in the riverbank" noted by the Cree Indians. It drains an area of . F ...

. The highway then passes by the Village of

Girouxville Girouxville (; ) is a village in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located south of the Town of Peace River. History The community has the name of the local Giroux family, being named after Father Henri Giroux, a Roman Catholic missionary appoi ...

and the Town of

Falher Falher (, ) is a town in the Peace Country area of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Municipal District of Smoky River No. 130, along Highway 49. Falher is one of the earliest agricultural communities in the Peace River Country and is notab ...

before again intersecting Highway 2, approximately 2 km (1 mi) west of the Village of Donnelly. At the Highway 2 intersection, known locally as the 'Donnelly Corner', Highway 49 turns south and becomes part of a core route of Canada's National Highway System while the Northern Woods and Water Route continues eastward along Highway 2. The highway passes Guy and New Fish Creek before entering Valleyview and terminating at an intersection with Highway 43.

History

The southern and easternmost sections of Highway 49 have seen a variety of highway designations. Prior to 1990, Highway 49 continued east past Donnelly and through the Town of McLennan before terminating at Highway 2 in

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

, west of the Town of

High Prairie High Prairie is a town in northern Alberta, Canada within Big Lakes County. It is located at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 749, approximately northeast of Valleyview and west of Slave Lake. History Describes the nature of the ...

, along present-day Highway 2. At the same time, its present-day alignment between Donnelly and Valleyview was designated as Highway 34.''Province of Alberta Canada 1990 Official Road Map'' (Map). Alberta Tourism and Small Business. § F-3, G-3. In 1990/1991, Highway 34 between Valleyview and Donnelly was renumbered to Highway 43 and Highway 49 between Triangle and Donnelly was renumbered to Highway 2, resulting in Highway 49 terminating at the Donnelly Corner. Finally, on March 1, 1998, Highway 43 between Valleyview and Donnelly was renumbered to Highway 49 to allow for Highway 43 to travel west from Valleyview to Grande Prairie and the British Columbia border.

Future

Alberta Transportation is conducting planning studies for upgrades along the Highway 2/49 corridor between

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

and Valleyview, which includes twinning the portion of Highway 49 south of Donnelly and constructing a bypass around Valleyview. There is no timeline for construction.

Major intersections

References

External links