Maintained by | City of Edmonton |
---|---|
Location | Edmonton, Alberta |
---- Wayne Gretzky Drive | |
Former name(s) | Capilano Drive, Capilano Freeway |
Length | 4.8 km (3.0 mi) [1] |
South end | 101 Avenue |
Major junctions | 106 Avenue, 112 Avenue, 118 Avenue |
North end | Fort Road / Yellowhead Trail |
Construction | |
Inauguration | 1969 |
---- 66 Street & 75 Street | |
Length | 16.2 km (10.1 mi) [1] 66 Street: 10.0 km (6.2 mi) 75 Street: 6.2 km (3.9 mi) |
South end | 41 Avenue SW |
Major junctions | Ellerslie Road, 23 Avenue, 34 Avenue, Whitemud Drive, Roper Road, Argyll Road, Whyte (82) Avenue, 98 Avenue |
North end | 101 Avenue |
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Former professional ice hockey player Awards | ||
Wayne Gretzky Drive is a freeway in Edmonton, Alberta. Originally Capilano Drive/Capilano Freeway, it was officially renamed October 1, 1999, after NHL hockey player Wayne Gretzky, as a tribute to his years with the Edmonton Oilers. The same day, Wayne Gretzky's number 99 jersey was retired at the Skyreach Centre, [2] which lies just west of Wayne Gretzky Drive, at 118 Avenue. 66/75 Street is a major arterial road in east Edmonton which serves residential and industrial areas.
Wayne Gretzky Drive and 75 Street, both located between Whitemud Drive and Yellowhead Trail, are part of the eastern leg of what was planned to be Edmonton's Inner Ring Road. Wayne Gretzky Drive and 75 Street are part of a 39 km (24 mi) continuous roadway that runs from 41 Avenue SW to 33 Street NE (Edmonton's northeastern city limit) and includes portions of 66 Street and Fort Road, as well as all of Manning Drive. [1]
Preceded by 75 Street, Wayne Gretzky Drive starts at 101 Avenue to become a freeway. It crosses the North Saskatchewan River valley, by passing under 106 Avenue and Ada Boulevard. As it approaches Northlands and the Alberta Avenue area, it again returns into an arterial, with traffic lights. The exits to Northlands at 112 Avenue and 116 Avenue are clearly marked with overhead street signs in blue, and with the Northlands logo. Because of property constraints, to maintain the number of lanes, the freeway is divided into Wayne Gretzky Drive Northbound and Southbound, formally 72 Street and 73 Street, [3] at 118 Avenue. 119 Avenue services the north Northlands Coliseum parking lot to the west, and is a dead end to the east, because it was blocked off from being used as a shortcut, disrupting traffic flow during major Northlands events. The northbound and southbound then converge again before crossing the Capital Line of the Edmonton LRT. Fort Road, which runs to the southwest, meets up with Wayne Gretzky Drive at an at-grade intersection, then runs concurrently along with it for approximately 180 metres (590 ft) to Yellowhead Trail. The single-point urban interchange at Yellowhead Trail allows Yellowhead Trail to run as a freeway, and it has the benefit of only one traffic light and U-turns for westbound and eastbound traffic. At this interchange, Wayne Gretzky Drive ends and Fort Road becomes the only road.
Wayne Gretzky Drive and Groat Road are the only freeways in Edmonton not to have provincial highway numbers.
66 Street and 75 Street function as the southern extension of Wayne Gretzky Drive. It begins as 66 Street at 41 Avenue SW and passes north through Mill Woods, passing by Mill Woods Town Centre, Grey Nuns Community Hospital and Mill Woods Golf Course. At Whitemud Drive the roadway becomes 75 Street and passes through the Southeast Industrial area. North of Argyll Road, 75 Street transitions to passing through mature residential communities. Despite being designated as part of the inner ring road, heavy trucks are prohibited on 75 Street between 90 Avenue and 98 Avenue. [4] At 101 Avenue, 75 Street becomes Wayne Gretzky Drive.
66 Street and 75 Street are part of the southeast alignment of the Valley Line of the Edmonton LRT, which links Mill Woods with downtown. [5] The LRT runs at-grade, parallel (on the east side) to the roadway between 28 Avenue and Wagner Road, with the exception of an elevated section near Wagner Road as the line passes over 75 Street and transitions to follow 83 Street towards downtown. [6] Stations and stops are along 66 Street and 75 Street with Grey Nuns stop near 31 Avenue, Millbourne/Woodvale stop near 38 Avenue, and Davies station near Wagner Road; Mill Woods station is east of 66 Street along 28 Avenue. [5]
Capilano Bridge takes Wayne Gretzky Drive over the North Saskatchewan River, spanning 290 metres (950 ft).
Grant Moellmann Bridge takes Wayne Gretzky Drive over the LRT tracks and a CN spur that used to service the surrounding industrial area. It was opened in 1995 bridging the gap between 120 Avenue and Fort Road. It is named after Edmontonian ironworker Grant Moellmann (1935–1994) who fell to his death placing the bridge's last girder on November 24, 1994. [7] [8] A plaque was placed on the bridge in September 1998 to mark the significance of this naming.
Capilano Freeway (Capilano Drive) originally opened in 1969 by widening and connecting the residential streets of 75 Street south of the river and 72 Street north of the river; it ended just north of 118 Avenue. In 1995, the northern extension of Capilano Drive was opened which completed the link to Fort Road and Yellowhead Trail. [8]
Proposals to honour Wayne Gretzky by renaming a city street date back to 1987, when it was originally proposed to rename 99 Street, coinciding with number 99; at the request of Gretzky, the plan was discontinued. [9] In 1989 the City of Edmonton, in co-ordination with Northlands and Molson Brewery, commissioned the artwork of the bronze statue which was unveiled on August 27, 1989, one year after he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, and moved to Rogers Place in 2016. [10] [11] [12] Following Gretzky's retirement in 1999, a fan brought forward a second proposal to rename 99 Street; [9] however Capilano Drive was ultimately chosen to be renamed Wayne Gretzky Drive.
List of neighbourhoods Wayne Gretzky Drive runs through, in order from south to north: [13]
Wayne Gretzky Drive
66 Street
This is a list of major intersections, starting at the south end of 66 Street. [13] The entire route is in Edmonton.
km [1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.0 | 0.0 | 41 Avenue SW | |||
3.2 | 2.0 | Ellerslie Road | |||
4.4 | 2.7 | Anthony Henday Drive (Hwy 216) | Flyover, no access | ||
5.7 | 3.5 | Mill Woods Road South | |||
6.5 | 4.0 | 23 Avenue NW | |||
7.0 | 4.3 | 28 Avenue NW – Mill Woods Town Centre, Grey Nuns Hospital, Mill Woods station | South end of LRT east of the roadway (under construction) | ||
7.5 | 4.7 | 31 Avenue NW – Grey Nuns stop | Stop under construction | ||
7.8 | 4.8 | 34 Avenue NW | |||
8.8 | 5.5 | 38 Avenue NW – Millbourne/Woodvale stop | Stop under construction | ||
10.0 | 6.2 | Whitemud Drive (Hwy 14) | Diamond interchange (traffic lights) | ||
North end of 66 Street • South end of 75 Street | |||||
10.9 | 6.8 | Roper Road | |||
11.9 | 7.4 | Wagner Road – Davies station | North end of LRT east of the roadway (under construction) | ||
12.6 | 7.8 | Argyll Road | Access to Sherwood Park Freeway | ||
13.6 | 8.5 | Whyte (82) Avenue | Access to Sherwood Park Freeway; former Hwy 14 alignment | ||
14.4 | 8.9 | 90 Avenue | |||
15.8 | 9.8 | 98 Avenue | |||
16.2 0.0 | 10.1 0.0 | 101 Avenue | |||
North end of 75 Street • South end of Wayne Gretzky Drive | |||||
1.0 | 0.62 | 106 Avenue | Half diamond interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
1.6– 1.9 | 0.99– 1.2 | Capilano Bridge crosses the North Saskatchewan River | |||
2.7 | 1.7 | 112 Avenue – Northlands, Concordia University, Commonwealth Stadium | Diamond interchange | ||
3.4 | 2.1 | 116 Avenue – Northlands | |||
3.6 | 2.2 | 118 Avenue | Split intersection (traffic lights); passes Coliseum station | ||
3.8 | 2.4 | 119 Avenue | Split intersection (traffic lights); access to Northlands Coliseum | ||
3.9 | 2.4 | 120 Avenue / 121 Avenue | Northbound right-in/right-out | ||
4.2 | 2.6 | Grant Moellmann Bridge crosses LRT & CN rail lines | |||
4.6 | 2.9 | Fort Road / 124 Avenue | South end of Fort Road concurrency | ||
4.8 | 3.0 | Yellowhead Trail (Hwy 16) Fort Road | Single-point urban interchange (traffic lights); Hwy 16 exit 392; continues north Fort Road to Manning Drive (Hwy 15 north) | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Alberta Provincial Highway No. 16, commonly referred to as Highway 16, is a major east–west highway in central Alberta, Canada, connecting Jasper to Lloydminster via Edmonton. It forms a portion of the Yellowhead Highway, a major interprovincial route of the Trans-Canada Highway system that stretches from Masset, British Columbia, to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, near Winnipeg. Highway 16 spans approximately 634 km (394 mi) from Alberta's border with British Columbia in the west to its border with Saskatchewan in the east. As of 2010, all but less than 96 km (60 mi) of the route was divided, with a minimum of two lanes in each direction. It is designated a core route in Canada's National Highway System.
Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216) is a 78-kilometre (48 mi) freeway that encircles Edmonton, Alberta. It is a heavily travelled commuter and truck bypass route with the southwest quadrant serving as a portion of the CANAMEX Corridor that links Canada to the United States and Mexico. Henday is one of the busiest highways in Western Canada, carrying over 108,000 vehicles per day in 2019 at its busiest point near West Edmonton Mall. Rush hour congestion is common on the four-lane section in southwest Edmonton, where traffic levels have risen due to rapid suburban development. Work began in fall 2019 to widen this section to six lanes by the end of 2022.
Mill Woods is a residential area in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Located in southeast Edmonton, Mill Woods is bounded by Whitemud Drive (Highway 14) to the north, 91 Street to the west, 34 Street to the east, and Anthony Henday Drive to the south. Mill Woods is adjacent to three other residential areas including The Meadows to the east across 34 Street, and Southeast Edmonton and Ellerslie to the south and southwest respectively across Anthony Henday Drive.
Transport in Edmonton is fairly typical for a Canadian city of its size, involving air, rail, road and public transit. With very few natural barriers to growth and largely flat to gently rolling terrain bisected by a deep river valley, the city of Edmonton has expanded to cover an area of nearly 768 km2 (297 sq mi), of which only two-thirds is built-up, while the metropolitan area covers around 9,430 km2 (3,640 sq mi).
Windsor Park is a south central neighbourhood in the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is located immediately to the west of the University of Alberta north campus and overlooking the North Saskatchewan River valley to the north, west, and south west. It shares a short boundary with the neighbourhood of Belgravia to the south.
Terrace Heights is a roughly triangle-shaped residential neighbourhood in south east Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Montrose is a residential neighbourhood in north east Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
St. Albert Trail is a major arterial road connecting the cities of Edmonton and St. Albert, Alberta. It is part of a 40-kilometre-long (25 mi) continuous roadway that runs through Sherwood Park, Edmonton, and St. Albert that includes Wye Road, Sherwood Park Freeway, Whyte Avenue, portions of University Avenue and Saskatchewan Drive, and Groat Road.
Groat Road is a major roadway in Edmonton, Alberta. It is named after Malcolm Groat, a former Hudson's Bay Company employee who settled in the present-day Groat Estates area in the 1880s. Groat Road is part of a 40-kilometre-long (25 mi) continuous roadway that runs through Sherwood Park, Edmonton, and St. Albert that includes Wye Road, Sherwood Park Freeway, Whyte Avenue, portions of University Avenue and Saskatchewan Drive, and St. Albert Trail. Groat Road functions as a grade-separated parkway between 87 Avenue and 111 Avenue.
Terwillegar Drive is a developing freeway in south-west Edmonton, Alberta. It is under construction, with the majority of its intersection at-grade, it retains its arterial road status. Once completed, it will be the third freeway in Edmonton not to have a highway designation after Groat Road and Wayne Gretzky Drive. South of Windermere Boulevard the roadway goes by 170 Street SW.
23 Avenue NW is a major arterial road in south Edmonton. It runs through several neighbourhoods including Mill Woods and The Meadows, and commercial areas including South Edmonton Common, and Mill Woods Town Centre. In September 2011, construction completed of an interchange at the intersection with Calgary Trail & Gateway Boulevard (Highway 2); considered Edmonton's busiest intersection. Because Edmonton has adapted a quadrant system, the suffix NW is sometimes added to addresses, to avoid confusion with addresses south of Quadrant (1) Avenue.
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