Yellowhead Trail
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Yellowhead Trail is a expressway segment of the
Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway () is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg west to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western provinces of Britis ...
( Highway 16) in northern
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Canada. It carries a significant amount of truck traffic to and from the industrial areas of north Edmonton and serves as a key commuter route for the bedroom communities of Stony Plain,
Spruce Grove Spruce Grove is a city that is west of Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada. The city is adjacent to the Stony Plain, Alberta, Town of Stony Plain and is surrounded by Parkland County. With a 2021 population of 37,645, Spruce Grove is the List of cit ...
, and
Sherwood Park Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary. While long confined to generally south of Highway 16 ( Ye ...
, carrying nearly 80,000 vehicles per weekday in 2015. A suburban bypass of the route was completed when the northeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216) opened in late 2016, providing an alternate route through north Edmonton. The Yellowhead Highway becomes Yellowhead Trail at Edmonton's westerly border, 231 Street. The rural divided highway meets Anthony Henday Drive at a large interchange, crossing over the
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
and veering slightly northeast through industrial areas of northwestern Edmonton. The expressway passes underneath St. Albert Trail and past Canadian National's Walker Yard to 97 Street. Bending south near the neighbourhood of Eastwood and back to the east, it intersects Wayne Gretzky Drive and Victoria Trail before descending across the
North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
near Beverly to a second large interchange with Anthony Henday Drive, at which the Yellowhead Trail designation ends and Highway 16 enters
Strathcona County Strathcona County is a Specialized municipalities of Alberta, specialized municipality in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region within Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park. It forms part of Division No. 11, Alberta, Census Di ...
. As a portion of the Yellowhead Highway, the expressway takes its name from Yellowhead Pass, through which Highway 16 passes from Alberta into
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 ...
. Construction was planned in the 1970s and was fully completed by 1984, receiving incremental improvements in subsequent decades; the route now includes a mix of signalized at-grade intersections and interchanges. Due to heavy congestion, Edmonton outlined a $1 billion plan in late 2016 to upgrade Yellowhead Trail to a
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 ...
, eliminating at-grade intersections and constructing new interchanges. Work began in 2019 and is planned for completion in late 2027.


Route description

Designated as Highway 16 in all four provinces it traverses, the Yellowhead Highway is an interprovincial route that runs from the Pacific coast of
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 ...
through Alberta 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 ...
into
Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
, ending in Winnipeg. It enters Alberta at Yellowhead Pass, travelling east into the
Edmonton Capital Region Edmonton is the capital city of the 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 Alberta's central region, and is in Treaty 6 terr ...
as a four-lane rural divided highway that adopts the name "Yellowhead Trail" at 231 Street, marking the western Edmonton city limit. The first interchange within the city is a
diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...
at Winterburn Road; the divided highway then meets the Anthony Henday Drive ring road at a large combination interchange. Widening to six lanes, Yellowhead assumes the unsigned designation of northbound Highway 2 from Henday and passes underneath 184 Street and over the
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
, veering slightly northeast into the Armstrong Industrial Area. It intersects 170 Street at another diamond interchange, then bends east past the Hawin Park Estate, and Dominion industrial areas of northwest Edmonton. After an interchange at 156 Street, a pair of one-way service roads begins, providing access to 149 Street and St. Albert Trail from both directions and 142 Street from eastbound, and the highway curves east. At the interchange with St. Albert Trail, the concurrency with Highway 2 ends, carrying it north into St. Albert; the western freeway-grade segment also ends there. East of St. Albert Trail, an expressway-grade segment ensues north of the
Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
and
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
neighbourhoods and the highway intersects 127 and 121 Streets at-grade, running between Canadian National's Walker Yard and a large area formerly occupied by the Edmonton City Centre Airport. Following the railway corridor, it descends slightly to
single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic th ...
s at 97 and 82 Streets. At Elmwood Park the route curves southeast to intersect Wayne Gretzky Drive and Fort Road; the former is an expressway that proceeds south across the river toward downtown while the latter becomes Manning Drive and later Highway 15 to the north. Meanwhile, Yellowhead Trail crosses 66 Street at-grade prior to a diamond interchange at 50 Street. A freeway section ensues; the speed limit increases to as the road curves slightly southeast past
Beacon Heights The Quartermain Mountains ( ) are a group of exposed mountains in Antarctica, about long, typical of ice-free features of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Victoria Land. They are east of the Lashly Mountains, south of the Asgard Range, west of the Kukri ...
en route to an interchange at Victoria Trail before descending across the
North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...
near Beverly on the Clover Bar and Beverly Bridges, each three lanes wide. Climbing from the river valley, the expressway crosses into Strathcona County which officially ends the Yellowhead Trail designation immediately west of a second large combination interchange with Anthony Henday Drive. Highway 16 continues past Sherwood Park toward
Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administra ...
at the Saskatchewan border.


History

In the 1960s, Highway 16 followed portions of Stony Plain Road, Mayfield Road, 111 Avenue, 109 Street, and 118 Avenue through north Edmonton. The need for a free-flow bypass was identified, initially proposed when the City of Edmonton commissioned the 1963 Metro Edmonton Transportation Study (METS). The plan proposed a downtown freeway loop with feeder routes, including an eastern approach via 98 Avenue, a northeastern approach parallel to Fort Road, and a western approach, known as the Jasper Freeway, via the MacKinnon Ravine and 100 Avenue which would have directly connected with Highway 16 west. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Alberta expanded Highway 16 east of Edmonton, with connections to 98 Avenue in mind. A major interchange at Highway 16A (present-day Anthony Henday Drive) opened in 1971 and an interchange at Highway 16A and Highway 14X (present-day Anthony Henday Drive and Baseline Road, respectively) opened in 1975, featuring grading for a future eastbound to northbound flyover that was ultimately not constructed. The western freeway through the North Saskatchewan River valley and McKinnon Ravine was the most controversial aspect of the plan, with public protests suspending construction shortly after clearing work had begun. In tandem with cost overruns, the project was cancelled in 1974. The cancellation of the METS freeway resulted in an alternate bypass route to be considered for Highway 16. At the time, 125 Avenue and Santa Rosa Road were collector roads which ran parallel to the
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
; 125 Avenue was interrupted by the Edmonton Industrial Airport but the city had planned to connect the two segments to form an arterial roadway. In 1977, Alberta and Edmonton entered a cost-sharing agreement for the construction of Yellowhead Trail which included the expansion of 125 Avenue and Santa Rosa Road between 156 Street and 118 Avenue near the North Saskatchewan River, and a new extension westward to Highway 16X, which at the time entered Edmonton along 118 Avenue. Construction commenced in the late 1970s and was completed in 1984 with Yellowhead Trail as a 4-6 lane roadway. Interchanges opened at 118 Avenue / Victoria Trail in 1978, 97 Street and St. Albert Trail in 1982, and 170 Street in 1983. Following the completion of Yellowhead Trail, provincial highway designations were decommissioned within Edmonton's inner city; Highway 16 was designated to follow Yellowhead Trail east of 170 Street and Highway 2 followed Yellowhead Trail from St. Albert Trail to 170 Street before it continued south to Whitemud Drive and Calgary Trail. Yellowhead Trail was improved throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, firstly with interchanges opening at 82 Street in 1988 and later at Fort Road. A new Capilano Drive (now Wayne Gretzky Drive) extension opened in 1995, and interchanges opened at 50 Street in 1996, Anthony Henday Drive on the west side of the city 1998; and Winterburn Road in 1999. In 1997, Highway 16X was renumbered to Highway 16 resulting in Yellowhead Trail having a contiguous highway number for its entire length. Interchanges were opened at 184 Street in 2004 and 156 Street in 2007.


Future

Due to heavy traffic volume, much of which is large trucks, Edmonton sought funding to upgrade Highway 16 within the bounds of Anthony Henday Drive to a freeway. In 2016, the city unveiled plans for a $1 billion freeway upgrade to the expressway, eliminating at-grade intersections and constructing new interchanges. Construction began in 2019 and is scheduled to be completed by 2026/2027. As of mid-2023, Yellowhead Trail east of 50 Street has been widened from two to three lanes, with the interchange at Victoria Trail having been reconfigured. Conversion to freeway standards west of St. Albert Trail is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023, which will see the removal of all at-grade crossings, particularly at 142 and 149 Streets. Access to these streets will be provided by right-in/right-out service roads. In 2023/2024, construction is also set to begin between St. Albert Trail and 97 Street, as well as between Fort Road and 50 Street. This will include the elimination of all remaining at-grade crossings, straightening of the alignment north of the former City-Centre Airport lands and the construction of new shoulders, service roads and interchanges at 127 Street, 121 Street and 66 Street.


Major intersections


References


External links


Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion – City of Edmonton
{{Alberta Provincial Highways, Hwy=yes Freeways in Alberta Roads in Edmonton Urban segments of the Trans-Canada Highway Yellowhead Highway