Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada's provinces. It celebrated 100 years as a province in 2005 on September 1st. As part of the Centennial celebration, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the province from May 23 to May 25, 2005.

Transportation

Alberta has over 180,000 km of highways and roads, of which nearly 50,000 km are paved. The main north-south corridor is Highway 2, which begins south of Cardston at the Carway border crossing. Highway 4, which effectively extends U.S. Interstate Highway 15 into Alberta and is the busiest U.S. gateway to the province, begins at the Coutts border crossing and ends at Lethbridge. Highway 3 joins Lethbridge to Fort Macleod and links Highway 4 to Highway 2. Highway 2 travels northward through Fort Macleod, Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton before dividing into two highways. One continues northwest as Highway 43 into Grande Prairie and the Peace River country; the other (Highway 63) travels northeast to Fort McMurray, the location of the Athabasca Oil Sands. Highway 2 is supplimented by two more highways that run parallel to it: highway 22, west of highway 2, known as 'the cowboy trail', and highway 21, east of highway 2.

Related Topics:
Highway - Corridor - Highway 2 - Cardston - Carway - Border - U.S. Interstate Highway 15 - Coutts - Lethbridge - Highway 3 - Fort Macleod - Calgary - Red Deer - Edmonton - Grande Prairie - Peace River country - Fort McMurray - Athabasca Oil Sands

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Alberta has two main east-west corridors. The southern corridor, part of the Trans-Canada Highway system, enters the province near Medicine Hat, runs westward through Calgary, and leaves Alberta through Banff National Park. The northern corridor, also part of the Trans-Canada network but known alternatively as the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), runs west from Lloydminster in eastern Alberta, through Edmonton and Jasper National Park into British Columbia. On a sunny spring or fall day, one of the most scenic drives in the world is along the Icefields Parkway, which runs some 300 km between Jasper and Banff, with mountain ranges and glaciers on either side of its entire length.

Related Topics:
Trans-Canada Highway - Medicine Hat - Banff National Park - Yellowhead Highway - Highway 16 - Lloydminster - Jasper National Park - British Columbia - Icefields Parkway

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Urban stretches of Alberta's major highways and freeways are often called trails. For example, Highway 2 is Deerfoot Trail as it passes through Calgary, Calgary Trail as it leaves Edmonton southbound, and St. Albert Trail as it leaves Edmonton northbound toward the city of St. Albert. Visitors from outside Alberta often find this disconcerting, accustomed as they are to the notion that a trail is an unpaved route primarily for pedestrians.

Related Topics:
Freeway - St. Albert - Pedestrian

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Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge have substantial mass transit systems. Edmonton and Calgary also operate light rail vehicles.

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Alberta is well-connected by air, with international airports at both Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary's airport is the larger of the two, and is also the third busiest in Canada. It is a hub airport for a significant proportion of the connecting trans-border and international flights into and out of Alberta. There are over 9000 km of operating mainline railway, and many tourists see Alberta aboard Via Rail or Rocky Mountain Railtours.

Related Topics:
Airport - Via Rail - Rocky Mountain Railtours

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