A range road in Canada is a road that runs north–south along a range grid line of the
Dominion Land Survey. Range roads (Rge. Rd. or RR) are perpendicular to
township roads (Twp. Rd.) which run east–west along the
township grid lines.
Western Canada
In
western Canada (especially rural areas in most
municipal districts in
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 ...
), a range road (abbreviated "Rge. Rd." or "RR") is a road running on a north–south parallel to a range line (a line denoting the east and west boundaries of a × 6-mile legal
township in the
Dominion Land Survey and
Alberta Township land surveying systems).
Alberta
Range roads are commonly numbered in increments west from the east range line of a given township. The range roads form the east and west boundaries (known as section lines) of the 1 mile × 1 mile square sections 36 of which comprise a township (e.g. Range Road 12-2 is between the second and third sections west of Range line 12, Range Road 6-0 is on range line 6). In many municipal districts, the dash between the range line number and the section line number is eliminated (Range Road 15-1 (151) might be called "Range Road one-fifty-one"). Where a road is offset from a section line, it is often appended with a letter (Range Road 11-1A is just west of the first section line west of Range line 11). This system is useful for finding farmsteads (assuming one knows the legal address of the parcel).
Range roads are perpendicular to
township roads (abbreviated Twp. Rd.). In
Foothills County, the range and township road naming system has been replaced with a more conventional "street/avenue" numbering scheme. Range roads are
street
A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...
s numbered west and east of the
Fifth Meridian (Meridian Street) in increments of 16 streets to the mile. Township roads are
avenues numbered on a similar grid to the city of
Calgary (the boundary lies between 190th and 220th Avenue) and extends out to 722nd Avenue. This system causes confusion at the southern boundary of Calgary, as streets in Calgary are numbered east and west of Centre Street, which is some distance west of the Fifth Meridian. Therefore, street numbers change as one crosses Calgary's southern boundary.
Saskatchewan
In
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 ...
there are both
township and range roads. The numbers of the range roads help to establish the location of the roads as they exist with relation to the legal land description survey system. Range roads travel north and south between the meridians. Range roads indicate first the meridian number. In Saskatchewan roads near the Manitoba border begin with 1 as they are west of the prime or first meridian, then the range numbers are west of the second and finally west of the 3rd meridian. There are no roads in Saskatchewan west of the fourth meridian, as the fourth meridian line defines the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The next two digits are the range number, which increments from east to west from a meridian line. The last range number shows how many miles within the range the road is located starting at the easternmost edge of the range and travelling west.
As they mark a definite location such as a longitudes and latitudes, the naming convention is the same across Saskatchewan. Township and range roads can be gravel, highway, or municipal paved road. The Dominion Land Survey system designates a township road allowance every two miles apart south to north, and allows for a range road allowance every mile apart east to west.
Due to the curvature of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
, townships adjacent to major
Meridian lines (e.g. the Fifth Meridian 114° W) are truncated. There are more townships between meridian lines along the
49th Parallel (the boundary between Canada and the United States) than there are along the
60th Parallel (the boundary between Canada's southern
provinces and northern
territories).
See also
*
Concession road
*
County highway
*
References
{{Road types
Roads in Canada by type
Types of roads