The

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

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

has a provincial highway network consisting of over of roads as of 2021-2022, of which have been paved. All of Alberta's provincial highways are maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors, a department of the

Government of Alberta The Government of Alberta () is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. In modern Canadian use, the term ''Government of Alberta'' refers specifically to the executive� ...

. 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 and rural access, with a higher proportion of gravel surfaces

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 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 in reducin ...

s around

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, 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 highways 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 (Canadian French, 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 A ...

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 Route 10, or Highway 10, can refer to routes in the following countries: International * European route E10 * European route E010 Argentina * Provincial Route 10 (La Pampa), La Pampa Provincial Route 10 Australia Queensland * Smith Street ...

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 east–west roads where the numbering increases northward from the

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

border to the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

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

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

border to the

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

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 900 series includes 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. Highway 901 is a potential realignment of Highway 1 and Highway 986 is an extension of Highway 686).

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 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 includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

1–216 series

X series

500–986 series

500

600

700

800

900

See also

References

External links