Alberta Highway 2

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 2^[1] is the longest provincial highway in the Canadian province of Alberta. The stretch between Calgary and Edmonton is one of the most heavily used highways in the province, and is designated the Queen Elizabeth II Highway or the ‘QE2 Highway’.

The speed limit along most parts of the highway between Fort Macleod and Morinville is 110 km/h (70 mph) and in urban areas, such as through Claresholm, Nanton, Calgary and Edmonton, it ranges from 60 km/h to 100 km/h. During the winter time, accidents are common as the weather changes rapidly, and drivers underestimate the conditions. The worst area for accidents is the corridor north of Airdrie and south of Red Deer.

A review of historical Alberta official road maps shows that Highway 2 was numbered Highway 1 prior to 1941 (while the current Highway 1 was Highway 2 at the time).^[2]

Route

As its main north-south corridor, Highway 2 enters Alberta south of Cardston, at the Carway border crossing with Montana (where it continues as U.S. Route 89). It travels northward through Fort Macleod to Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton. North of Edmonton the highway continues to Athabasca, after which the highway continues northwesterly along the south shore of Lesser Slave Lake into High Prairie, north to Peace River, west to Fairview and finally south to Grande Prairie.

As the main north-south access in Alberta, Highway 2 is the preferred path of the CANAMEX Corridor.^[3] Between Fort Macleod and Edmonton, Highway 2 maintains no fewer than four lanes of traffic and is largely a controlled-access freeway between Okotoks and Edmonton, with improvements underway to eliminate remaining at-grade crossings.

North of Okotoks, the three northbound lanes of the highway split into Macleod Trail (Highway 2A) and Deerfoot Trail, which keeps the Highway 2 designation through Calgary. It passes immediately west of the Calgary International Airport before continuing north to the City of Airdrie, which is bisected by Highway 2, while a number of other smaller communities such as Crossfield are bypassed. The newer Highway 2 is built east of the communities and the old route has become Highway 2A.

Red Deer is also primarily bypassed. Gasoline Alley, located at the south end of the city, is a popular stop for travellers headed for Calgary or Edmonton, with several fuel stations and food establishments. Continuing north, the highway again bypasses the smaller communities, this time to the west. Leduc, south of Edmonton, is bisected like Airdrie; however, this has been a result of westward growth of the community. The highway also passes immediately east of Edmonton International Airport, about 15 km south of Edmonton.

When the highway enters Edmonton, it becomes Gateway Boulevard (northbound; it is Calgary Trail in the opposite direction), then Whitemud Drive to the southwest part of the city. It then shares roadbeds with Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216) and Yellowhead Trail (Highway 16) before heading north again along St. Albert Trail as it exits Edmonton and passes northwest through St. Albert. (Future extension of Ray Gibbon Drive in the northwest Edmonton region will bypass St. Albert from Anthony Henday Drive to Highway 2 north.)

After leaving St. Albert, the highway is twinned until it reaches north of Morinville and after that it is a 2-lane road for almost the rest of the stretch. Highway 2 continues north until it reaches a T-junction with Highway 18. From there, the route turns east towards Clyde and then follows a northeasterly direction to Athabasca before turning northwest towards Slave Lake. The road continues west, following along the scenic southern shores of Lesser Slave Lake until it reaches High Prairie. West of High Prairie, the highway then turns north to McLennan and west until it reaches a junction with Highway 49 (locally known as 'Donnelly Corner'). The stretch of Highway 2 between Athabasca and Highway 49 is part of the Northern Woods and Water Route.^[4][5]

The highway continues north to Peace River, the road's most northerly point in the province. It exits west out of Peace River then turns south through Grimshaw (the junction of the Mackenzie Highway) and Fairview, then over the Dunvegan Bridge, where it crosses the Peace River and ultimately terminating at an interchange at Highway 43 just north of Grande Prairie. Prior to highway renumbering in northwestern Alberta, Highway 2 followed Highway 43's current alignment into British Columbia, where it became Highway 2 to Dawson Creek.

Queen Elizabeth II Highway

On May 23, 2005, the section between Calgary and Edmonton was renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Highway in honour of Her Majesty's visit to Alberta as part of the province's centennial celebrations; the first road sign was personally unveiled by the Queen. It is the first highway in Canada to be named for the current Queen (Ontario’s Queen Elizabeth Way is named for Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Mother).

Exit list

The province of Alberta began numbering exits on Highway 2 in 2004.

Southern Alberta

Calgary Region

Central Alberta

Edmonton Region

Northern Alberta

References

External links

• 2010 Provincial Highways 1 - 216 Series Progress Chart (map, 8 MB) by Alberta Transportation.