Alberta Highway 63
Highway 63 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Length: | 443 km (275 mi) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: | Hwy 28 / Hwy 829 southwest of Radway | |||
Hwy 18 Hwy 55 Hwy 881 Hwy 69 |
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North end: | North of Fort MacKay | |||
Location | ||||
Specialized and rural municipalities: |
Thorhild County, Athabasca County, Lac La Biche County, Wood Buffalo R.M. | |||
Major cities: | Fort McMurray | |||
Villages: | Boyle | |||
Highway system | ||||
Provincial highways in Alberta
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Alberta Provincial Highway No. 63[1] is a north–south highway in northern Alberta, Canada. In the south, Highway 63 begins at its intersection with Highway 28 approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) southwest of Radway, passing through Boyle and Fort McMurray before ending approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) north of its second crossing of the Athabasca River near Fort MacKay.
Much of Highway 63 passes through boreal forest, although aspen parkland and farmland is predominant as far as Wandering River. The highway also passes through the Athabasca Oil Sands between Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay.
From its terminus to Fort McMurray, the highway is designated as a core route of Canada's National Highway System.
Highway format
Highway 63 sees an increasingly high volume of traffic due to the growing oilsands industry in the Wood Buffalo, causing potentially serious transportation-related problems. Trucks carrying large equipment can cause traffic delays, since they can be large enough to occupy two traffic lanes. Most of the highway is two-lane undivided highway, with the exception of approximately 55 km (34 mi) from south of its intersection with Highway 881 through Fort McMurray to south of Fort MacKay. It is also the only road leading out of Fort McMurray, which makes it a critical link to the growing community.
After years of both public and political pressure, the provincial government has announced in February 2006[2] that it would begin twinning the entire two-lane portion of the highway to a four-lane divided standard from Atmore to just south of Fort McMurray. The twinning began in 2006 and was estimated to take at least five years to complete.[3]
As of October 2009, the twinning of approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) of this 240 km (150 mi) corridor had been completed,[4] with another 16 km (9.9 mi) expected to be graded by fall 2011.[5] In October 2012, it was announced the remaining portion of Highway 63 between Grassland and Fort McMurray will be twinned by the end of 2016[6] and 36 km (22 mi) of twinned highway opened near Wandering River on November 5, 2012.[7] Interchanges within Fort McMurray at Confederation Way and Thickwood Boulevard are scheduled for completion in fall 2013.[8]
Safety concerns
Between 2001 and 2005, over 1,000 crashes occurred on Highway 63 in which 25 people were killed and 257 others were injured.[9]
Major intersections
Municipality | km | Description | coordinates | ||
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Thorhild County | 0 | Begins at Highway 28 and Highway 829 near Radway | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
13 | Intersects with Highway 18 and Highway 656 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
34 | Intersects with Highway 661 at Newbrook | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
Athabasca County | 64 | Intersects with Highway 663 Highway 663 concurrency begins |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
Village of Boyle | 73 | Intersects with Highway 663 Highway 663 concurrency ends |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
74 | Intersects with Highway 831 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
Athabasca County | 89 | Intersects with Highway 55 westbound, begins multiplex | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
103 | Passes Grassland | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
112 | Intersects with Highway 55 eastbound near Atmore, ends multiplex | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
156 | Passes Wandering River | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo | 250 | Passes Mariana Lake | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
336 | Intersects with Highway 881 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
352 | Intersects with Highway 69, enters Fort McMurray | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
362 | Crosses Athabasca River | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
365 | Leaves Fort McMurray | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
412 | Intersects with Fort MacKay Access Road | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
413 | Crosses Athabasca River | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
429 | Terminates north of Fort MacKay | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
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External links
- 2010 Provincial Highways 1 - 216 Series Progress Chart (map, 8 MB) by Alberta Transportation.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Alberta Government announcement
- ↑ Government of Alberta - Infrastructure project
- ↑ The Oil Sands Developers Group- Transportation Fact Sheet: October 2009.
- ↑ Alberta Transportation- Highway 63 twinning will resume: March 2010.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.