Alberta/Highway classification

This page describes the highway classification scheme used in Alberta following the Canadian highway guidelines.

In 2023, it was proposed to expand the road network tagged as trunk to include some non-National Highway System (NHS) routes, but local consensus is to retain the existing trunk network based on the existing NHS.

Guidelines

• highway=motorway - Freeways (e.g. Anthony Henday, Stoney Trail, most of the QE2)
• highway=trunk - NHS core routes that aren't freeway standard (e.g. parts of the QE2 that are below freeway standard, most of the Yellowhead and Trans-Can, Highway 63, Highway 9),
• highway=primary - Most provincial highways (numbers 1-216) that aren't trunk or motorway, at-grade segments of the Edmonton ring road except Yellowhead Trail (trunk, upgrade to freeway ongoing). In Calgary, usually major arterial roads.
• highway=secondary - Highways 501-986, most other arterials in urban areas
• highway=tertiary - important rural roads (usually paved and/or with higher posted speed limit than the 80 km/h default for most rural roads), collector streets in urban areas
• highway=unclassified - most rural roads
• highway=residential - residential roads

As of 2025, expressway=yes has been used to indicate roads that are designed for high speed but are not completely controlled-access. In Alberta, these are usually divided, and are slated for upgrade to freeway in the long term. The classification of such roads follow those listed above.

Population centres

Population centres for trunk determination includes all cities that are centres of census metropolitan areas, and most cities and towns used as control cities in NHS routes. In most of Alberta, these should generally be cities, but some towns of importance are also listed.

• Calgary
• Cold Lake
• Edmonton
• Fort McMurray
• Grande Prairie
• High Level
• Lethbridge
• Lloydminster (including area in Saskatchewan)
• Medicine Hat
• Peace River
• Red Deer

Out-of-province and across the US border

• Cranbrook, BC
• Dawson Creek, BC
• Great Falls, MT
• Kamloops, BC
• North Battleford, SK
• Prince Albert, SK
• Prince George, BC
• Saskatoon, SK
• Swift Current, SK
• Yellowknife, NT

Also of consideration for determining potential trunk routings are the 6 border crossings, but only the Coutts-Sweet Grass crossing connecting with I-15 can be considered to provide the only trunk connecting as one that is open 24 hours and also the busiest.

Motorways

Highway	Location	Motorway status begins	Motorway status ends	Note
Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Alberta Rockies and Calgary Region	Harvey Pass Trail parking access	Driveway west of exit 161
Highway 1 (Trans-Cananda Highway)	Calgary Region	RR 40	CP overpass east of Sarcee Trail
Crowchild Trail	Calgary	Twelve Mile Coulee Road	24 Avenue Northwest
Highway 2	Calgary Region	306 Avenue East in Foothills County	TR 310 in Mountain View County	Deerfoot Trail between exits 225 and 271, and Queen Elizabeth II Highway north of Calgary.
Highway 2	Central Alberta	TR 340 in Mountain View County-Red Deer County boundary	TR 362 in Red Deer County	Queen Elizabeth II Highway
Highway 2	Central Alberta	TR 362 in Red Deer County	Farm access near Blackfalds	Queen Elizabeth II Highway
Highway 2	Central Alberta and Edmonton Region	Farm access near Blackfalds	31 Avenue Northwest in Edmonton.	Queen Elizabeth II Highway up to Edmonton city limits. Gateway Boulevard and Calgary Trail in Edmonton.
Macleod Trail	Calgary Region	Highway 2 near Calgary	Dunbow Road/242 Avenue West.	Highway 2 continuation north of fork where Highway 2 follows Deerfoot.
Whitemud Drive	Edmonton	Anthony Henday Drive exit 18	Anthony Henday Drive 64 in Sherwood Park
Glenmore Trail	Calgary	Sarcee Trail and Stoney/Tsuut'ina Trail	Barlow Trail	Highway 8 designation ends at Deerfoot Trail
Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway)	Edmonton Region	Atim Road in Parkland County	149 Street in Edmonton
Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway)	Edmonton Region	61 Street in Edmonton	Atim Road
Highway 16A (Stony Plain Road and 100 Avenue)	Edmonton	231 Street	Anthony Henday Drive
Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail	Calgary	Ring road around Calgary		Entire route
Anthony Henday Drive	Edmonton	Ring road around Edmonton		Entire route
Sherwood Park Freeway	Edmonton and Sherwood Park	82 Avenue	Wye Road
Crowchild Trail	Calgary	Glenmore Trail	Kensington Road Northwest
Macleod Trail	Calgary	Sheriff King Road	Lake Fraser Gate Southeast

Motorway islands

These disconnected sections of freeway-grade highway ("motorway islands") with at least two interchanges and are least 3.2-16 km are to be tagged highway=motorway.

Highway	Location	Motorway status begins	Motorway status ends	Note
Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Brooks	RR 150	RR 142
Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Medicine Hat	Boundary Road Northwest	1 Street Southwest
Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Medicine Hat	16 Street Southwest	54 Street Southeast
Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Medicine Hat	16 Street Southwest	54 Street Southeast
Highway 2	Calgary Region	TR 184A near High River	466 Avenue East near High River
Highway 2	Calgary Region	466 Avenue East	370 Avenue East
Highway 2 (Northern Woods and Water Route)	Peace River	Old Highway 688 near Peace River	78 Street in Peace River
Highway 3 (Crowsnest Highway)	Southern Alberta	51 Avenue in Coaldale	28 Street in Lethbridge
Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway)	Parkland County	RR 43	RR 24
Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway)	Parkland County	Rosenthal Road	Atim Road
Highway 16 (Yellowhead Trail)	Edmonton	107 Street Northwest	68 Street Northwest
Highway 63 (Memorial Drive)	Fort McMurray	Gregoire Drive/Beacon Hill Drive	Hardin Street
Highway 63 (Memorial Drive)	Fort McMurray	Morrison Street	Taiganova Crescent
Airport Trail	Calgary	Deerfoot Trail	Barlow Trail	Motorway	Primary	Can be restored to motorway between Deerfoot and 36 Street Northeast once Barlow interchange is completed.
Wayne Gretzky Drive	Edmonton	101 Avenue Northwest	Expo Centre access
Whoop-Up Drive	Lethbridge	Jerry Pots Boulevard West	5 Street South

These motorway islands with at least two interchanges but are not long enough (at least 3.2-16 km) are not to be tagged as highway=motorway but tagged according to their relative importance in the road network and also tagged with expressway=yes. Motorway islands with only one interchange are not listed for obvious reasons.

Highway	Location	Motorway status begins	Motorway status ends status ends	Present tagging	Proposed classification	Note
Highway 686	Fort McMurray	North Parsons Parkway	Highway 63	Motorway	Secondary

Trunk roads

Alberta trunk routes

Highway	NHS	Service level	Functional classification	Trunk status begins	Trunk status ends	Note
Highway 1	Core	Level 1	Freeway and arterial (divided)	BC 1 at Kicking Horse Pass	SK 1 (TCH) at Saskatchewan boundary	Entire route, with motorway segments from Harvey Pass access to exit 140, RR 40 to east of CP overpass past Sarcee Trail, Barlow Trail to 68 Street East, RR 150 to RR 142, Boundary Road to 1 Street
Highway 2	Core	Level 1	Freeway and arterial (divided)	Highway 3 west of Fort Macleod	Whitemud Drive, Edmonton	Deerfoot Trail across Calgary and Queen Elizabeth II Highway (QEII) between Calgary and Edmonton city limits. Motorway segments around High River and Okotoks, from south of Calgary to north of exit 315, from Red Deer County-Mountain View County boundary to TR 392, and farm access near Blackfalds to service road access north of 23 Avenue in Edmonton
Highway 2	Core	Level 1	Arterial (undivided) and expressway	Highway 49 near Donnelly	Highway 43 in Grande Prairie	Northern Woods and Water Route/NWWR between Donnelly, Peace River and Spirit River. Motorway around Peace River.
Highway 3 (Crowsnest Highway)	Core	Level 1	Arterial and freeway	BC 3 at Crowsnest Pass	Highway 1 at Medicine Hat	Motorway segments at Lethbridge
Highway 4	Core	Level 1	Arterial (divided)	I-15 in Coutts-Sweet Grass border crossing	Highway 3 at Lethbridge	Entire route
Highway 9	Core	Level 1	Arterial (undivided)	Highway 1 (TCH) near Chestermere	SK 7 in Alsask	Entire route
Highway 15	Core	Level 1	Expressway and arterial	Highway 16 (Yellowhead Trail) in Edmonton	Highway 28A near Gibbons	50 Street and Manning Drive
Highway 16/Yellowhead Highway	Core	Level 1	Freeway, expressway and arterial (divided)	BC 16 at Yellowhead Pass	SK 16 in Lloydminster	Motorway segments around Wabamun, Stony Plain to Edmonton, and Sherwood Park
Highway 28	Core (Highway 28A-Highway 63), feeder (Highway 63-Cold Lake)	Level 1 (Highway 28A-Highway 63), Level 2 (Highway 63-Cold Lake)	Freeway/expressway and arterial	Highway 28A near Gibbons	Highway 63 near Redwater
Highway 28A	Core	Level 1	Arterial divided	Highway 15 (Manning Drive) in Edmonton	Highway 55 in Cold Lake	Entire route
Highway 35 (Mackenzie Highway)	Core	Level 1	Arterial (undivided)	Highway 2 near Grimshaw	Mackenzie Highway (NT 1) at NT boundary	Entire route
Highway 43	Core	Level 1	Arterial and expressway	BC Highway 2	Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway) near Stony Plain	Entire route
Highway 49	Core	Level 1	Arterial and expressway	Highway 43 in Valleyview	Highway 2 near Donnelly
Highway 63	Core (Redwater-Fort McMurray), No (north of Fort McMurray)	Level 1	Freeway, expressway and arterial	Highway 28 near Redwater	Fort McKay

Expressway

Expressways in Alberta are to be tagged with expressway=yes. These are usually divided ("twinned") highways, with limited access to properties, service roads, high speed limits and some grade separations.

Alberta roads to be tagged with expressway=yes

Highway	Classification	Expressway status begins	Expressway status ends	Note
Highway 1 (TCH)	Trunk	BC boundary near Lake Louise	Harvey Pass Trail access
Highway 1 (TCH)	Trunk	exit 143	Range Road 40 at Rocky View County
Highway 1 (TCH)	Trunk	68 Street in Calgary	Range Road 150 near Brooks
Highway 1 (TCH)	Trunk	Range Road 142 near Brooks	20 Street NE at Medicine Hat
Highway 1 (TCH)	Trunk	1 Street SW at Medicine Hat	16 Street SW at Medicine Hat
Highway 1 (TCH)	Trunk	54 Street SE at Medicine Hat	Saskatchewan boundary
Highway 2	Trunk	exit 89 near Fort Macleod	Highway 533 near Nanton
Highway 2	Trunk	26 Avenue at Nanton	Township Road 184A near High River
Highway 2	Trunk	370 Avenue E near Okotoks	306 Avenue E near Okotoks
Queen Elizabeth II Highway	Trunk	Township Road 310 near Carstairs	Township Road 340 at Mountain View County-Red Deer County boundary
Queen Elizabeth II Highway	Trunk	Township Road 392 near Red Deer	Farm access near Blackfalds
Highway 2	Primary	north of Jensen Lakes Boulevard/Everitt Drive in St. Albert	end of divided highway near Morinville
Crowsnest Highway	Trunk	end of divided highway west of Highway 3A	end of divided highway east Beckenridge Avenue at Lundbreck
Crowsnest Highway	Trunk	end of divided highway east of Highway 810	21 Street and Lyndon Road at Fort Macleod
Crowsnest Highway	Trunk	25A Street at Fort Macleod	51 Avenue at Coalhurst
Crowsnest Highway	Trunk	28 Street at Lethbridge	end of divided highway east of Highway 36 at Taber
Highway 4	Trunk	I-15 at Coutts-Sweet Grass border crossing	Crowsnest Trail at Lethbridge	Entire route
Highway 11 (David Thompson Highway)	Primary	60 Street near Sylvan Lake	Johnstone Drive and Orr Drive at Red Deer
Yellowhead Highway	Trunk	end of divided highway west of Highway 40 near Hinton	Kiel Drive in Hinton
Yellowhead Highway	Trunk	East of Switzer Drive in Hinton	63 Street in Edson
Yellowhead Highway	Trunk	end of divided highway east of CN Rail overpass at Edson	East of Range Road 43 near Wabamun
Yellowhead Highway	Trunk	Range Road 34 near Wabamun	East of Range Road 12 near Stony Plain
Yellowhead Trail	Trunk	East of St. Albert Trail	West of 97 Street NW	Within Edmonton city limits. Ongoing conversion to freeway. Expressway tagging largely extinguished between St. Albert Trail and 119 Street due to detours over ongoing freeway construction.
Yellowhead Trail	Trunk	East of Fort Road	West of end of freeway segment near 125 Ave NW westbound exit	Within Edmonton city limits. Future conversion to freeway.
Yellowhead Highway	Trunk	West of Range Road 225 near Sherwood Park	80 Avenue in Lloydminster
Highway 16A (Parkland Highway)	Primary	Highway 16 near Carvel	west of Winterburn Road (215 Street) interchange in Edmonton
Highway 43	Trunk	Highway 16 near Carvel	Western end of twinning west of Range Road 95 near Beaverlodge
Highway 60 (Devonian Way)	Primary	end of twinning south of Highway 19 near Devon	end of twinning south of Highway 16A at Acheson

Resources

• Provincial Highway Service Classification Map, Alberta Transportation. Used to determine potential trunk routings. Alberta Transportation uses four service classifications of highways, which are independent of traffic volumes:
  • Level 1 - International and interprovincial importance. Links population centres of over 50,000. Includes all NHS core routes.
  • Level 2 - Similar to level 1, but of intra-provincial importance.
  • Level 3 - Inter-regional or intermunicipal importance.
  • Level 4 - Intra-regional importance.
• Roadside Management Classification Map, Alberta Transportation. Used to determine additional trunk routes, as most of the existing trunks (also NHS core routes) are being planned for eventual upgrade to freeway.
• Functional Classification Map - Existing Conditions, Alberta Transportation. Reflects current functional classification. Alberta Transportation classifies its provincial highways into either freeway, urban expressway, arterial, collector and local, with sub-classifications for urban and rural areas. Except for freeway, most don't have one-to-one correspondence with OSM, and they mostly reflect the road's construction standard.
• Traffic Data Mapping, Alberta Transportation. Used here to determine the best routes for potential additional trunk routes crossing provinces where there are more than one excluding existing trunks (e.g. Red Deer to Saskatoon trunk).

In neighbouring provinces and US states

• British Columbia
  • Numbered Highway Functional Classes Map, BC Ministry of Transportation.
  • National Highway System Map, BC Ministry of Transportation
• Montana
  • Montana Highway Functional Classification Map, Montana Department of Transportation. Montana roads are functionally classified as:
    • Principal arterial - Interstate
    • Principal arterial - non-Interstate
    • Minor arterial
    • Major collector
    • Minor collector
    • Local

Neighbouring projects

For classification projects in neighbouring provinces and territories connected by highway with Alberta:

• British Columbia - Yes
• Northwest Territories - No (existing classifications already compatible with nationwide proposal)
• Saskatchewan - Yes

Neighbouring US states (basing on United States/2021 Highway Classification Guidance)

• Montana - Yes