Alberta Highway 201

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Highway 201 is a highway in the province of Alberta. Although the highway is given a three-digit designation, it is considered a primary highway and not a secondary highway. It is considered one of the two Alberta ring roads, and is located entirely within the city of Calgary. (The other Alberta ring road is Alberta Highway 216, a.k.a. Anthony Henday Drive, in Edmonton.)

Highway 201 is mainly designed so as to provide a quick way for travellers to pass through the city of Calgary, as the Trans-Canada Highway (designated Highway 1, from which Highway 201 bears its name) would not have to pass through the urban areas of the city.

Highway 201 is split into two sections, designated as Stoney Trail and East Freeway (although the latter is a temporary name).

Stoney Trail

Stoney Trail consists of the western and northern part of the ring road, and, at its completion, will effectively be a freeway link between 16 Avenue (Trans-Canada Highway) and Deerfoot Trail (Highway 2). Although 16 Avenue does intersect directly with Deerfoot Trail, travellers from the west must go through the city's urban area to do so.

As of 2008, Stoney Trail is only open between 16th Avenue and Country Hills Boulevard NW. The remainder of the northwest portion of the ring road remains under construction but is stated to open between the Fall of 2008 and Fall of 2009. Interchanges are being constructed at Scenic Acres Link, Crowchild Trail, Sarcee Trail, Beddington Trail, and Deerfoot Trail, as well as a flyover at Shaganappi Trail. The interchange at 16 Avenue was completed in October 2007 and the interchange at Country Hills Boulevard was opened in August 2008. When the Expressway opens, there will be two Traffic Signals: at the intersections of Nose Hill Drive and Harvest Hills Boulevard. However, these will be upgraded to interchanges in the future. [ [http://www.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/INFTRA_Content/docType490/production/cphpmap.htm Infratrans.gov.ab.ca] ]

Planning for construction of the southern leg of Stoney Trail, which will link from the current southern terminus at Highway 1 to Highway 8 is currently in progress, although construction is not anticipated to start for several years. This portion of the freeway will require a revision to the 16th Avenue interchange and additional overpasses and flyovers built at Old Banff Coach Road, Bow Trail, 17th Avenue S.W. and Glenmore Trail.

East Freeway

The East Freeway is a proposed freeway in Calgary that would link Marquis of Lorne Trail (Highway 22X) to Stoney Trail, along the city's eastern boundary. The roadway will run in a nearly straight line approximately two-thirds of the way between 68th and 84th Streets north from 22X, before turning west to link up with Stoney Trail at Deerfoot Trail. The freeway will also continue past Secondary Highway 566.

In December 2005, the City of Calgary announced it was in talks with the province to fast-track construction of the East Freeway, which previously had been thought to be decades away from completion, so that it can be built within the next few years. On 22 February 2007, Alberta's Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation awarded a contract to the Stoney Trail Group public-private partnership consortium to construct the first stage of the East Freeway. This initial stage of construction would extend Stoney Trail by a length of 21 kilometres from Deerfoot Trail to 17 Avenue SE by the fall of 2009. [ [http://www.gov.ab.ca/acn/200702/21068EA464F84-97A5-CC20-FF973D1D95E056EA.html Government of Alberta] ] Construction of the East Freeway was begun in 2007 and is scheduled for completion in late 2009.

The name East Freeway is expected to be a temporary designation, as the city has (with a few exceptions) tended to name its freeways (locally referred to as "trails") with a Native Canadian theme. It had been assumed that the Stoney Trail name will not be used for the East Freeway portion of Highway 201, however a recent map posted on a Government of Alberta website identifies the East Freeway by the name Stoney Trail. [ [http://www.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/INFTRA_Content/docType490/production45724/cphpmap.htm Infratrans.gov.ab.ca] ]

Eventually, the East Freeway is expected to continue south from Highway 22X.Cite web| url= http://www.calgary.ca/DocGallery/BU/planning/pdf/mahogany_community_plan.pdf | title=City of Calgary: Mahogany Community Plan June 2007| author=City of Calgary| year=2007| accessdate= 2008-01-27]

Southwest Calgary Ring Road

The final leg of the Calgary Ring Road, currently known as the Southwest Calgary Ring Road, but also widely referred to as the Sarcee Trail Extension, is still in the initial planning and public consultation stages. The current proposed route will run from approximately the intersection of Highway 8 and Sarcee/Glenmore Trails, south through the Tsuu T'ina First Nation to eventually reach Highway 22X in the south of the city.

This route will allow construction to bypass the environmentally sensitive Weaselhead Natural Area through an agreement with the Tsuu T'ina First Nation and will allow for access to a proposed commercial/retail park on Tsuu T'ina land along the Ring Road. As of January 2006, a firm decision regarding connector roads from Calgary has yet to be made; although 90th Avenue S.W. and Southland Drive (being principal arterial roads in the area) have long been assumed to be the connectors, vocal opposition from residents over the last decade or more has led to a delay; at present, the city is debating whether to authorize both connector roads, or only one, or even none, though a no-connector decision would result in Anderson Road (currently a four to six-lane at-grade expressway) taking the bulk of traffic from the freeway, requiring major upgrades.

As of January 2008, a portion of the ring road already exists, running from Anderson Road south to 146th Avenue S.W. At the present time, this road is not being referred to officially as Sarcee Trail, but rather 37th Street S.W. (which was an upgrade of an existing two-lane rural minor arterial road). The decision by the city to refer to the proposed road as the Southwest Calgary Ring Road suggests that a name other than Sarcee Trail may be given to the new roadway, although the name Sarcee Trail is still being used in some street atlases.

References

Related links

* [http://www.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/INFTRA_Content/docType490/production/cphpmap.htm Calgary Provincal Highway Projects - Alberta Transportation] Dead link|date=August 2008
* [http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_780_230_0_43/http;/content.calgary.ca/CCA/City%20Transportation/Transportation%20Planning/Southwest%20Ring%20Road/Southwest%20Ring%20Road%20Introduction.htm City of Calgary SW Ring Road information] Dead link|date=August 2008