# Alberta Provincial Highway Network

The Alberta Provincial Highway Network consists of all the roads, bridges and interchanges in Alberta that are maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors (TEC). This network includes over 64,000 lane kilometres of roads (equivalent to 31,400 kilometres), and over 4,800 bridges and interchanges. The longest highway in the network is Highway 2 with a total length of 1,273 kilometres (791 mi). Over 58,000 lane kilometres (equivalent to 28,400 kilometres) of the roads in the network are paved, with the remaining being unpaved. Outside this network, the total length of the road infrastructure in Alberta totals over 473,000 kilometres of single-lane equivalent roads.

## Regulations

In Alberta, similar to Ontario, all public roads are legally considered highways under the Traffic Safety Act (TSA), which sets forth traffic regulations, or the rules of the road that drivers on Alberta's highways are legally required and obligated to follow. The Highways Development and Protection Act (HDPA) sets the regulations concerning roads and highways that are under the ownership and authority of the Government of Alberta.
Speed limits on provincial highways are regulated by the Traffic Safety Act, and vary between 50 km/h (31 mph) and 100 km/h (62 mph) depending on the type of highway, however divided highways usually have a set speed of 110 km/h (68 mph).

## Classification

Alberta has two distinct series of highways:

### 1–216 series

These highways form the core component of Alberta's highway network. All highways within this series are numbered from 1 to 100, with the exception of highways 201 and 216 which serve as the ring roads for Calgary and Edmonton, respectively. Highways 1 and 16 make up part of the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) system, and are the only highways within the network that are given this designation. The remaining highways lack this designation and are not considered part of the TCH, however various other, or portions of, highways within the network are considered to be part of the National Highway System (NHS). Some of the highways in Alberta's highway network that are part of the NHS are highways 9, 28, 35, and 63. In total, sixteen highways in the province's highway network are part of the NHS.

### 500–986 series

These highways form the remainder of Alberta's highway network. The highways within this series are typically considered to be local and/or rural highways.

## History

In April 1918, Bill 37, entitled "An Act to provide for a System of Highways in the Province", was passed, establishing the basis of a true highway network within the province. It designated all public roads within the province as highways, including trails. As part of this, highways were split into three separate classifications: main highways, district highways, and local highways. Main highways were considered crucial highways necessary for the effective means of transport between more important cities and towns within the province; district highways were highways considered to be important locally; and local highways were any remaining highways that were not classified as either main or district highways. However, the concept of highways within the province have existed since c. 1906.
In 1926, Alberta discontinued its system of marking highways with different colours in favour of a numbering system. By 1928, the year a gravel road stretched from Edmonton to the United States border, Alberta's provincial highway network comprised 2,310 km (1,440 mi).
Prior to 1973, the expanding highway system comprised one-digit and two-digit highways, with some numbers having letter suffixes (e.g., Highway 1X, Highway 26A). In 1973, a second highway system emerged, using three digits starting in the 500s and referred to as secondary roads, while the existing system continued to be referred to as provincial highways. In 1974, provincial highways became known as primary highways; and in 1990, secondary roads became known as secondary highways.
Secondary highways were abolished in 2000, with most becoming primary highways. The expanded primary highway system was divided into two subsets: former primary highways, which became the 1–216 series; and former secondary highways, which became the 500–986 series. In 2010, all highways became known as provincial highways, while maintaining the two numbered series. Despite this, the series are still often referred to as primary and secondary highways, respectively.