# Alberta Highway 9

Highway 9 is a highway in south-central Alberta, Canada, which together with Saskatchewan Highway 7 connects Calgary to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan via Drumheller. It is designated as a core route of the National Highway System, forming a portion of an interprovincial corridor. Highway 9 spans approximately 324 km (201 mi) from the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) east of Calgary to Alberta's border with Saskatchewan.

## Route description

Highway 9 begins at its interchange with Highway 1 approximately 10 km (6 mi) east of Chestermere and 20 km (12 mi) west of Strathmore, and approximately 6 km (4 mi) north of Langdon via Highway 797. For its first 45 km (28 mi), Highway 9 generally runs in a north/south direction to Beiseker, where it meets Highways 72 and 806. At Beiseker, Highway 9 runs in an east-west direction for 64 km (40 mi) to Drumheller, where it meets Highways 10 and 56. Highways 9 and 56 then run in a north/south concurrence for 22 km (14 mi) from Drumheller to its intersection with Highway 27 east of Morrin. Highway 9 leaves the concurrence at this point and runs east/west for the balance of route to the Saskatchewan border, providing connections to Hanna and Oyen as well as numerous smaller communities, and generally running parallel to Highway 12 to the north. The highway continues as Saskatchewan Highway 7 in a northeast direction toward Saskatoon.

## History

Over the past few years, the province of Alberta has executed a number of upgrades to the highway, widening shoulders and realigning the road (most recently just west of Drumheller, although the new alignment now bypasses the Horseshoe Canyon landmark as a result). As of 2007, however, the province has yet to twin any stretch of the busy highway, and there have been calls for interchanges to be built at its junctions with Highway 21 and the Trans-Canada due to the number of fatal automobile accidents that have happened at these locations.
A partial cloverleaf interchange was constructed in 2007 where Highway 9 crosses the Trans-Canada Highway. As well, the junction with Highway 21 was changed to a four-way stop in early 2011.

## Major intersections

The following is a list of major intersections along Alberta Highway 9 from west to east.
| Rural/specialized municipality | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| Foothills County | ​ | −22.6 | −14.0 | Highway 552 – De Winton | Highway 797 southern terminus; unsigned |
| Foothills County | ​ | −19.7 | −12.2 | dead end | Highway 797 northern terminus |
| Gap in Highway 797 / Range Road 273 (Bow River) ||||||
| Rocky View County | ​ | −16.2 | −10.1 | Township Road 220 | |
| Rocky View County | ​ | −8.1 | −5.0 | Highway 22X – Calgary, Gleichen | |
| Rocky View County | Langdon | −6.5 | −4.0 | Highway 560 west (Glenmore Trail) / Township Road 234 – Calgary | Highway 797 southern terminus |
| Rocky View County | ​ | 0.0 | 0.0 | Highway 1 (TCH) – Strathmore, Medicine Hat, Calgary | Interchange |
| Highway 9 western terminus • Highway 797 northern terminus ||
| Rocky View County | ​ | 13.0 | 8.1 | Highway 564 – Delacour, Calgary | |
| Rocky View County | ​ | 19.4 | 12.1 | Highway 566 west – Balzac, Kathyrn, Keoma | |
| Rocky View County | ​ | 32.7 | 20.3 | Highway 567 west – Airdrie | |
| Rocky View County | Irricana | 35.1 | 21.8 | UAR 144 west | |
| Rocky View County | Beiseker | 43.2 | 26.8 | UAR 141 west | |
| Rocky View County | Beiseker | 44.3 | 27.5 | Highway 72 west – Crossfield Highway 806 north – Acme, Linden | Highway 9 branches east; former Highway 21A / Highway 26 north |
| Wheatland County / Kneehill County | ​ | 63.8 | 39.6 | Highway 21 – Three Hills, Strathmore | |
| Wheatland County / Kneehill County | ​ | 70.3 | 43.7 | Highway 836 north – Carbon | Former Highway 26 north |
| Wheatland County / Kneehill County | ​ | 82.7 | 51.4 | Highway 840 south – Rosebud, Standard | |
| Kneehill County | ​ | 98.6 | 61.3 | Highway 841 south – Dalum | |
| Drumheller | Drumheller | 106.8 | 66.4 | Highway 10 east / Highway 56 south (Railway Avenue S) / 5 Street SE – Rosedale | West end of Highway 56 concurrency |
| Drumheller | Drumheller | 107.7 | 66.9 | Highway 575 west (South Dinosaur Trail) / 2 Street SW – Nacmine | |
| Drumheller | Drumheller | 108.3 | 67.3 | Crosses the Red Deer River | Crosses the Red Deer River |
| Drumheller | Drumheller | 108.8 | 67.6 | Highway 838 west (North Dinosaur Trail) – Royal Tyrrell Museum | |
| Drumheller | Drumheller | 109.1 | 67.8 | Highway 576 east | |
| Starland County | Munson | 119.4 | 74.2 | Township Road 302 | |
| Starland County | ​ | 129.0 | 80.2 | Highway 27 west – Morrin, Three Hills Highway 56 north – Stettler | East end of Highway 56 concurrency |
| Starland County | ​ | 142.0 | 88.2 | Highway 849 south – Michichi | |
| Starland County | ​ | 151.8 | 94.3 | Highway 851 – Byemoor, Delia | |
| Starland County | ​ | 161.5 | 100.4 | UAR 122 north – Craigmyle | |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 172.9 | 107.4 | Highway 855 north – Watts, Endiang | |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 174.6 | 108.5 | Highway 862 south – Gem | |
| Special Area No. 2 | Hanna | 183.1 | 113.8 | Palliser Trail (Range Road 144) | |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 189.8 | 117.9 | Highway 36 north – Castor, Viking | West end of Highway 36 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 192.4 | 119.6 | Highway 36 south – Brooks, Taber | East end of Highway 36 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | Youngstown | 237.0 | 147.3 | Highway 884 south – Big Stone | West end of Highway 884 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 244.0 | 151.6 | Highway 884 north – Veteran | West end of Highway 884 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | Cereal | 267.5 | 166.2 | Highway 886 – Sedalia, Consort, Buffalo | |
| Special Area No. 3 | Oyen | 291.1 | 180.9 | Highway 41 – Consort, Oyen, Medicine Hat | |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 309.2 | 192.1 | Highway 899 north – Esther | West end Highway 899 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 310.9 | 193.2 | Highway 899 south | East end of Highway 899 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 324.1 | 201.4 | Highway 7 east – Alsask, Kindersley, Saskatoon | Continues into Saskatchewan |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Closed/former Concurrency terminus Route transition ||||||

## Highway 797

Highway 797 is a highway in the Calgary Region that functions as a southern extension of Highway 9. It presently is in two segments; the 6.5 km (4.0 mi) northern segment runs from Highway 560 (Glenmore Trail) in Langdon to the Trans-Canada Highway, while the 2.9 km (1.8 mi) southern section is unsigned and runs from Highway 552 to the south bank of the Bow River. The northern segment used to extend from Langdon to the north bank of the Bow River, indicating that a bridge might be constructed to connect the two sections. The bridge was not constructed and the 9.7 km (6.0 mi) section was transferred to Rocky View County in the 2000s.