The

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

has provincial highway network of nearly as of 2009, of which were paved. All of Alberta's provincial highways are maintained by

Alberta Transportation Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territ ...

(AT), a department of the

Government of Alberta The government of Alberta (french: gouvernement de l'Alberta) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Alberta. As a constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor—i ...

. The network includes two distinct series of numbered highways: * The 1–216 series (formerly known as primary highways), making up Alberta's core highway network—typically paved and with the highest traffic volume * The 500–986 series, providing more local access, with a higher proportion of gravel surfaces

History

In 1926, Alberta discontinued its system of marking highways with different colours in favour of a numbering system. By 1928, the year a gravel road stretched from Edmonton to the United States border, Alberta's provincial highway network comprised . Prior to 1973, the expanding highway system comprised one-digit and two-digit highways, with some numbers having letter suffixes (e.g., Highway 1X, Highway 26A). In 1973, a second highway system emerged, using three digits starting in the 500s and referred to as secondary roads, while the existing system continued to be referred to as provincial highways. In 1974, provincial highways became known as primary highways; and in 1990, secondary roads became known as secondary highways. Secondary highways were abolished in 2000, with most becoming primary highways. The expanded primary highway system was divided into two subsets: former primary highways, which became the 1–216 series; and former secondary highways, which became the 500–986 series. In 2010, all highways became known as provincial highways, while maintaining the two numbered series. Despite this, the series are still often referred to as primary and secondary highways, respectively.

1 - 216 series

Alberta's 1 to 216 series of provincial highways are Alberta's main highways. They are numbered from 1 to 100, with the exception of the

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

s around

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, which are numbered 201 and 216 respectively. The numbers applied to these highways are derived from compounding the assigned numbers of the core north–south and east–west highways that intersect with the rings roads. In Calgary, Highway 201 is derived from the north-south Highway 2 and the east-west Highway 1. In Edmonton, Highway 216 is derived from the same north-south Highway 2 and the east-west Highway 16. Within this series, all or portions of Highways 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 15, 16, 28, 28A, 35, 43, 49, 63, 201 and 216 are designated core routes of Canada's National Highway System (NHS). Highway 28 from Highway 63 to Cold Lake is designated a NHS feeder route and Highway 58 between Rainbow Lake and Highway 88 is designated a NHS northern/remote route. Highways 1, 2, 3, 4, 16, and 43 are considered Alberta's most important interprovincial and international highways and are

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

s (

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

s) or

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s for much or all of their length. Speed limits are generally divided highways/freeways and on others. Segments of Highway 1 and Highway 16 through the national parks within

Alberta's Rockies Alberta's Rockies comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. On the southwestern part of the province along the British Columbia border, the region covers all but the south of Census Division 15. The main industry in this region ...

that can be or . The Highway 15/28A/28/63 corridor between Edmonton and Fort McMurray is considered one of Alberta's most important intraprovincial highways. It is vital to the oilsands operation. Although only Highways 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 15, 16, 43, 60, 63, 100, 201, and 216 are twinned (expressways) for most of their length, the vast majority of Alberta's 1 to 216 series of highways are two-laned and paved. Only four highways within the series have segments that remained gravelled. These include segments of Highways 40, 58, and 68 and a short segment near the northern terminus of Highway 63. Highways 1 and 16 are

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

routes and are signed with TCH shields, not standard provincial shields.

X series

The roads in the X series are typically highways that are planned realignments or spurs of existing highways. The numbers applied to each highway in the X series are derived from the highway that is planned for realignment or spurred from (e.g. Highway 16X will be a realignment of Highway 16, and Highway 10X is spur from Highway 10).

500 - 986 series

Alberta's 500 - 986 series of provincial highways are generally considered local or rural highways. The 500 - 986 series of provincial highways is divided into three sub-series: *The 500/600 highways are west–east roads where the numbering increases northward from the

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

border to the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

border. *The 700/800 highways are south–north roads where numbering increases eastward 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 to the

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

border. *The 900 highways are newer or planned roads that have been established for future consideration as or as potential extensions or realignments of highways within the 1 - 216 series. Some of these highways are paved, while others are entirely or partially gravel. Rural speed limits range from to .

500

600

700

800

900

The roads in the 900 are typically highways that are planned realignments or extensions of existing highways. The numbers applied to each highway in the 900 series are derived from the highway that is planned to be realigned or extended (e.g. Hwy 901 is a potential realignment of Hwy 1 and Hwy 986 is an extension of Hwy 686).

Park access roads

A park access road (PAR) is an access route managed by Alberta Transportation that connects provincial parks to designated provincial highways. The following is a list of all park access roads in Alberta as of March 2017.

Urban approach roads

An urban approach road (UAR) is an access route managed by Alberta Transportation that connects urbanized areas to designated provincial highways. The following is a list of all urban approach roads in Alberta as of March 2017.

References

External links

Alberta RoadsHighways Development and Protection ActHighways Development and Protection RegulationProvincial Highways 1 - 216 Progress Chart, March 2016Provincial Highways 500 - 986 Progress Chart, March 2016Public Highways Act, 1922Public Highways Act, 1929Public Highways Act, 1942Public Highways Development Act, 1966Public Highways Development Act, 1980Public Highways Development Act, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberta Provincial Highways Lists of roads in Canada

Highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...