Part of | Hwy 2A |
---|---|
Maintained by | City of Calgary, Alberta Transportation |
Length | 27.7 km (17.2 mi) [1] |
Location | Calgary, Alberta |
North end | Riverfront Avenue |
Major junctions | Glenmore Trail, Southland Drive, Anderson Road, Stoney Trail |
South end | Hwy 2 (Deerfoot Trail) |
Macleod Trail is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. It is a six- to eight-lane principal arterial road extending from downtown Calgary to the south of the city, where it merges into Highway 2. South of Anderson Road, Macleod Trail is an expressway and is slated to be upgraded to a freeway in the future.[ citation needed ] It is named for its destination to the south, Fort Macleod.
Macleod Trail effectively divides the southwest and the southeast quadrants of the city, and many communities (inner city as well as suburban) were developed along its course. [2] Macleod Trail (along with Crowchild Trail and Deerfoot Trail) constitutes one of the three major north-south corridors of the city. [3]
Beginning as a one-way street for northbound traffic (with southbound traffic following 1st Street SE one block to the west), the road passes by Calgary City Hall, Olympic Plaza, the building that housed the former Calgary Central Library, and the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts. South of downtown, it defines the western edge of the Calgary Stampede grounds, as it passes through the Beltline district, then provides access to the MNP Community & Sport Centre as it runs between the historic inner city communities of Mission and Ramsay. South of Elbow River, Macleod Trail becomes a two-way road and has various motels established on its sides, and Chinook Centre faces the road as it passes between the communities of Meadowlark Park, Kingsland and Fairview. Macleod Trail is lined with commercial developments on both sides for its entire length between Erlton and Lake Bonavista, including strip malls, auto malls, big-box stores and shopping centres such as Southcentre Mall, and Calgary's largest suburban office complex at Southland Park. The southern leg of the C-Train LRT system (Route 201) is also developed along Macleod Trail.
In November 2007, Calgary City Council approved a functional planning study for the portion of Macleod Trail that extends from Anderson Road north to Downtown. Expected recommendations include interchanges at Heritage Drive and Southland Drive, as well as possible traffic signal refinements. [4] In addition, two other interchange locations are planned to be constructed within ten years. They are at the intersection with Lake Fraser gate and at the intersection with 194 Avenue. [5] [6] This would make Macleod Trail a freeway from Anderson Road to nearly the city limits. On August 13, 2017, the first diverging diamond interchange in Canada was opened at 162 Avenue. [7] [8] [9]
From north to south: [10]
Location | km [1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Calgary | 0.0 | 0.0 | Riverfront Avenue | Begins as one-way couplets; northbound traffic follows Macleod Trail, southbound traffic follows 1 Street SE | |
0.2 | 0.12 | 4 Avenue SE | Westbound one-way | ||
0.3 | 0.19 | 5 Avenue SE | Eastbound one-way; connects to Memorial Drive and Edmonton Trail | ||
0.4 | 0.25 | 6 Avenue SE | Westbound one-way west of Macleod Trail | ||
0.5 | 0.31 | 7 Avenue SE | B R City Hall station; Transit mall (no vehicle access); passes the historic Calgary City Hall | ||
0.6 | 0.37 | 8 Avenue SE (Stephen Avenue) | Pedestrian mall; passes the Calgary Municipal Building and Olympic Plaza | ||
0.7 | 0.43 | 9 Avenue SE | Eastbound one-way | ||
0.9 | 0.56 | 11 Avenue SE | Westbound one-way | ||
1.1 | 0.68 | 12 Avenue SE – Stampede Park | Eastbound one-way; access to Scotiabank Saddledome | ||
1.4 | 0.87 | 17 Avenue SE | Passes R Victoria Park/Stampede station; future access to Stampede Park [11] | ||
1.8 | 1.1 | Crosses the Elbow River Victoria Bridge (northbound) and Pattison Bridge (southbound) | |||
1.9 | 1.2 | One-way transition; south-to-north U-turn ramp | |||
2.3 | 1.4 | 25 Avenue SE – Stampede Park | Passes R Erlton/Stampede station | ||
3.1 | 1.9 | Spiller Road | Northbound right in/right out; original alignment of Macleod Trail (pre-1967) [12] | ||
3.6 | 2.2 | 39 Avenue S | Access to R 39 Avenue station | ||
3.9 | 2.4 | 42 Avenue S | |||
5.7 | 3.5 | 58 Avenue SW | |||
6.1 | 3.8 | 61 Avenue SW | Access to Chinook Centre and R Chinook station | ||
6.4 | 4.0 | Glenmore Trail | Single-point urban interchange (traffic signals) | ||
7.7 | 4.8 | 78 Avenue SW | Grade separated | ||
8.1 | 5.0 | Heritage Drive | Access to R Heritage station and Heritage Park | ||
9.7 | 6.0 | Southland Drive | Access to R Southland station | ||
10.8 | 6.7 | 109 Avenue S | Access to R Anderson station and Southcentre Mall; becomes an expressway | ||
10.9 | 6.8 | Southcentre Mall | Northbound right in/right out | ||
11.3 | 7.0 | Anderson Road | Partial cloverleaf interchange; to Hwy 1 west / Hwy 2 north | ||
Lake Fraser Drive | Northbound exit only | ||||
12.1 | 7.5 | Lake Fraser Drive | Northbound right in/right out | ||
12.5 | 7.8 | Lake Fraser Gate | Northbound right in/right out weekdays from 6 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. [13] | ||
13.5 | 8.4 | Canyon Meadows Drive | Partial cloverleaf interchange; access Lake Fraser Drive and R Canyon Meadows station | ||
13.7 | 8.5 | Crosses Fish Creek | |||
14.1 | 8.8 | Bannister Road / Shawnee Gate | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access to Fish Creek Provincial Park | ||
14.6 | 9.1 | James McKevitt Road | Southbound right in/right out; passes R Fish Creek–Lacombe station | ||
14.9 | 9.3 | 149 Avenue SE to Bannister Road | Northbound right in/right out; northbound access to James McKevitt Road and Fish Creek Provincial Park | ||
15.5 | 9.6 | Shawnessy Boulevard / Midlake Boulevard | Partial cloverleaf interchange; accesses Shawville Boulevard, Bannister Road, and R Shawnessy station | ||
16.6 | 10.3 | 162 Avenue SE / Sun Valley Boulevard | Canada's first Diverging diamond interchange; [14] access to R Somerset–Bridlewood station | ||
17.2– 18.4 | 10.7– 11.4 | Shawville Boulevard | Southbound exit only | ||
Stoney Trail (Hwy 201) | Hwy 201 exit 5; combination interchange; former Hwy 22X; Hwy 2A northern terminus | ||||
20.0 | 12.4 | 194 Avenue S | |||
21.2 | 13.2 | 210 Avenue S | |||
↑ / ↓ | 23.3 | 14.5 | Hwy 552 south (226 Avenue S) – De Winton | Southbound right in/right out | |
Foothills County | 25.4 | 15.8 | Dunbow Road – De Winton, Heritage Pointe | Northbound access to Hwy 552 | |
27.7 | 17.2 | Hwy 2 north (Deerfoot Trail) – Airport, Edmonton | Y interchange; Hwy 2 exit 225; northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
Hwy 2 south / Hwy 2A south – Okotoks, Fort Macleod, Lethbridge | Continues south | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
From 1949 to 1958, the Chinook Drive-In was located on McLeod Trail a half mile south of the Calgary city limits. [15]
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 2, commonly referred to as Highway 2 or the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, is a major highway in Alberta that stretches from the Canada–United States border through Calgary and Edmonton to Grande Prairie. Running primarily north to south for approximately 1,273 kilometres (791 mi), it is the longest and busiest highway in the province carrying more than 170,000 vehicles per day near Downtown Calgary. The Fort Macleod—Edmonton section forms a portion of the CANAMEX Corridor that links Alaska to Mexico. More than half of Alberta's 4 million residents live in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor created by Highway 2.
Deerfoot Trail is a 46.4-kilometre (28.8 mi) freeway segment of Highway 2 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It stretches the entire length of the city from south to north and links suburbs to downtown via Memorial Drive and 17 Avenue SE. The freeway begins south of Calgary where it splits from Macleod Trail, crosses the Bow River into city limits, and reaches the Stoney Trail ring road. Crisscrossing twice more with the river, it intersects Glenmore Trail and Memorial Drive; the former is a major east–west expressway while the latter is a freeway spur into downtown. In north Calgary, it crosses Highway 1 and passes Calgary International Airport before ending at a second interchange with Stoney Trail. Highway 2 becomes the Queen Elizabeth II Highway as it continues north into Rocky View County towards Edmonton.
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 2A is the designation of six alternate routes off Highway 2 in Alberta, Canada. In general, these are original sections of Highway 2, such as the southern portion of Macleod Trail in Calgary. They passed through communities before limited-access freeways were built to shorten driving distance, accommodate heavier volumes and to bypass city traffic. Portions of the alignment of Highway 2A follow the route of the former Calgary and Edmonton Trail.
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 201, officially named Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail, is an approximately 92-kilometre (57 mi) freeway in Calgary, Alberta. It forms part of the CANAMEX Corridor which connects Calgary to Edmonton and Interstate 15 in the United States via Highways 2, 3, and 4. Planned for a total length of 101 kilometres, the final segment of the ring road is currently under construction to be completed by 2024 at the latest, delayed from an original target of 2022. The freeway serves as a bypass for the congested routes of 16 Avenue N and Deerfoot Trail through Calgary. At its busiest point near Beddington Trail in north Calgary, the six-lane freeway carried nearly 79,000 vehicles per day in 2019.
Crowchild Trail is a major expressway in western Calgary, Alberta. The segment from the 12 Mile Coulee Road at the edge of the city to 16 Avenue NW is designated as Highway 1A by Alberta Transportation. The road is a critical north-south link in West Calgary for both downtown bound traffic and travel between the two quadrants of the city it passes through. Although planned to be one single freeway from Glenmore Trail to the city limits, the route is currently divided by a section of slow moving arterial road with four signalized intersections between 24 Avenue and Memorial Drive. This causes the freeway in the northwest to separated from the freeway south of the Bow River. Filling the gap and making the whole route a minimum six lane freeway is currently planned for construction beyond 2027.
The city of Calgary, Alberta, has a large transportation network that encompasses a variety of road, rail, air, public transit, and pedestrian infrastructure. Calgary is also a major Canadian transportation centre and a central cargo hub for freight in and out of north-western North America. The city sits at the junction between the "Canamex" highway system and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Memorial Drive is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. Aside from its important role in city infrastructure, the tree lined sides of Memorial Drive serve as a living testament to the many local soldiers who died during World War I and give it a parkway look on the western section. An active path system also runs along the south side of Memorial Drive, beside the banks of the Bow River. The Calgary Soldiers' Memorial forms part of an extensive renovation to Memorial Drive, which heightens the function of the road as a monument to the city's military. The Landscape of Memory Project began in 2004, in order to revitalize a nine kilometre stretch of the road. The design incorporated "Poppy Plaza" at the corner of Memorial Drive and 10th Street NW. The plaza used "weathered steel" to create large gateways, and the plaza and adjacent river walk were lined with the same rusted metal into which quotes about the Canadian experiences of war were cut. The Peace Bridge was incorporated into the remembrance theme of Memorial Drive, though there are no explanatory plaques at the site of the bridge.
Glenmore Trail is a 22-kilometre (14 mi) expressway in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, named after the reservoir which it crosses. It is a freeway between Sarcee Trail in southwest Calgary to Ogden Road in the southeast, carrying nearly 160,000 vehicles per weekday at its busiest point placing it second only to Deerfoot Trail as the busiest road in Alberta. East of Calgary, Glenmore Trail becomes Highway 560 en route to Langdon.
Southwood is a residential neighbourhood in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It is bounded by 98th Avenue to the north, Macleod Trail to the east, Anderson Road to the south and 14th Street SW to the west. Southland Drive passes through the northern part of the community. A major roadway, Elbow Drive, bisects the community.
Centre Street is a major road in Calgary, Alberta, and defines the east and west halves of the city for the purposes of street addresses.
Shaganappi Trail is a major super-4 expressway in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It extends to the south as Montgomery View, a small service road in the neighbourhood of Montgomery and that provides access to Edworthy Park, passes north past Market Mall and the western boundary of Nose Hill Park, and terminates in the neighbourhood of Nolan Hill in the north, with city planning maps indicating future northern extension beyond 144 Avenue NW. The name "Shaganappi" is of Cree origin, referring to the bison hide lacings that held Red River ox carts together. Despite the name, it is not located near the Shaganappi neighbourhood, which is located south of the Bow River.
John Laurie Boulevard / McKnight Boulevard is a major east-west arterial road and expressway in north Calgary, Alberta. The two roadways function together as a major crosstown route between the northwest and northeast quadrants and are part of Calgary's Skeletal Road Network.
Barlow Trail is a major arterial road in Calgary, Alberta, that is composed of three parts: the southern section which runs from Deerfoot Trail near 130 Avenue SE to Deerfoot Trail at the intersection with Peigan Trail. The afore mentioned section is the central section which runs from 17 Avenue SE to McCall Way; and the northern section which runs from Airport Road to 128 Avenue NE.
Blackfoot Trail is a super-4 expressway in Calgary, Alberta. It is named for the Blackfoot Confederacy, and more specifically the Siksika Nation, located east of Calgary. The road runs from 17 Avenue SE in the north, where Blackfoot Trail meets Deerfoot Trail, to Southland Drive in the south. It is the historical alignment of Highway 2 in south Calgary. The section of Blackfoot Trail between 19 Street SE and Deerfoot Trail is a former alignment, and still technically part of, 17 Avenue SE; however, it is generally referred to as being part of Blackfoot Trail.
Bow Trail is an expressway in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It gets its name from the Bow River, which runs through the city north of the road itself. It runs from downtown Calgary, where the westbound traffic continues from 6 Avenue SW and eastbound traffic becomes 9 Avenue SW, to 85 Street SW.
16 Avenue N is a major road in Calgary, Alberta, that forms a 26.5-kilometre (16.5 mi) segment of Highway 1 and connects Calgary to Banff and Medicine Hat. It is a four to six-lane principal arterial expressway at its extremities, but is an urban arterial road between the Bow River and Bowness Road, and also between Crowchild Trail and Deerfoot Trail. Due to Calgary's quadrant system, it is known as 16 Avenue NW west of Centre Street and 16 Avenue NE to the east.
14 Street W is the name of two major arterial roads and a short collector road in Calgary, Alberta, separated by the Elbow River and the West Nose Creek valley. Originally proposed as a continuous route and north-south freeway, the plans were cancelled in favor of 24 Street W, which became Crowchild Trail.
The Red Line, also known as Route 201, is a light rail transit (LRT) line in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Partnered with the Blue Line, and future Green Line it makes up Calgary's CTrain network. Following its initial approval in 1976, the Red Line opened in 1981, running from Anderson station in the southeast into downtown. The Red Line has gone through a series of expansions, which bring it to its current design. The Red Line services the northwest quadrant and south end of the city beginning at Tuscany station, runs through the downtown core on 7th Avenue, then proceeds southbound where it terminates at Somerset–Bridlewood station. The section of track running along 7th Avenue is shared with the Blue Line. Future expansion of the Red Line includes rerouting the downtown section below 8th Avenue, which would allow the operation of five-car trains, further increasing capacity.
Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard are a pair of major arterial roadways in Edmonton, Alberta. Gateway Boulevard carries northbound traffic while Calgary Trail carries southbound traffic. From south of 31 Avenue, they form a two-way freeway separated by a median; for this portion, the roadway maintains the separate names for northbound and southbound traffic. Near 31 Avenue, Calgary Trail and Gateway Boulevard separate and become parallel one-way arterial roadways to Saskatchewan Drive, at the edge of the North Saskatchewan River valley. Designated as part of Highway 2 south of Whitemud Drive, it is Edmonton's main southern entrance and is both a major commuter route, connecting to the Edmonton International Airport and Leduc, as well as a regional connection to Red Deer and Calgary.
36 Street E, Métis Trail, and Dwight McLellan Trail is a major arterial road in eastern Calgary and Rocky View County, Alberta. It connects with residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors in northeast Calgary.