Mayor Magrath Drive is the busiest north–south roadway and the second busiest roadway overall in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

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 ...

. In 2011, it saw roughly 34,000 vehicles per day in weekday traffic. Most retail and hospitality establishments in the city are concentrated on this roadway, and it serves as a major transportation corridor for the city and region.

History

Mayor Magrath Drive was built on a

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

line from Lethbridge to

Fort Macleod Fort Macleod ( ) is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It was originally named Macleod to distinguish it from the North-West Mounted Police barracks (Fort Macleod, built 1874) it had grown around. The fort was named in honour of the then List o ...

that was abandoned when the High Level Bridge was constructed in 1909. Until the 1920s, the rural, gravel roadway was known as ''Sunshine Trail''. In 1946, ''Sunshine Trail'' was paved with

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

for the first time. The following year, it was renamed Mayor Magrath Drive after Charles A. Magrath, the first mayor of Lethbridge. The roadway was expanded to four lanes in 1963. This expansion also included a system of service roads and connecting avenues to provide access to future commercial and residential development. Between 2001 and 2004, the overburdened road was expanded to six lanes.

Traffic

In 2005, weekday traffic on Mayor Magrath Drive was recorded at 32,000 vehicles per day.2005 Traffic Flow Map
, City of Lethbridge website Given that three provincial highways ( 3, 4 and 5) meet with the roadway, much of this traffic includes out-of-town tourists, commuters and truckers. In addition, given the development of large-scale retail stores in the south end of the city, many shoppers use Mayor Magrath Drive.

Amenities

Mayor Magrath Drive holds the bulk of the city's accommodations, including international chains such as Ramada, Best Western, Travelodge and Howard Johnson. Major shopping destinations (such as

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, Costco, Superstore, Safeway and Home Depot) are also located on this roadway, as well as a large number of restaurants. Henderson Park borders on Mayor Magrath Drive and contains a golf course, the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, and Henderson Lake, the largest urban lake in the city.

Transportation

Mayor Magrath Drive is central to

transport in Lethbridge There are many forms of transport in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, including highways and public transit. Lethbridge's airport is Lethbridge Airport (YQL), which is south of the city boundary. Lethbridge also has an intricate cycling-and-pedestrian ...

. It connects highways leading directly to the United States, British Columbia, and

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 ...

. Several public transit routes follow the road, including the popular Link, which provides service between the

Lethbridge College Lethbridge Polytechnic (also known as LethPolytech), formerly Lethbridge College, is a public polytechnic institute located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with regional campuses in Claresholm, Vulcan, Pincher Creek, and the Crowsnest Pass. Le ...

and Northside terminals. At the city limits Mayor Magrath Drive turns into Highway 5, which then continues to the Lethbridge County Airport.

Notes

References

* {{coord, 49.6825, N, 112.8047, W, type:landmark_region:CA-AB, display=title Transport in Lethbridge