97/98/101 Avenue, Edmonton

Looking east along 98 Avenue

101 Avenue is a historical eastern gateway into Edmonton with it being the nearest road allowance to the Dawson Bridge crossing of the North Saskatchewan River, which aligns with Rowland Road and 106 Avenue to the north. When Alberta introduced highway numbers in the 1930s, the original alignment of Highway 15 left downtown Edmonton along Rowland Road and the Dawson Bridge, turned south along 79 Street (later 84 Street), and then left Edmonton along 101 Avenue.[3] East of Edmonton, the route turned north at Range Road 234 for 3.2 km (2.0 mi) before turning east Township Road 532.[4][5] In 1940, the Highway 15 designation was switched with Highway 16 east, which at the time followed Fort Trail from Edmonton to Fort Saskatchewan.[5][6] In 1953 the Clover Bar Bridge opened, resulting in Highway 16 being rerouted from 101 Avenue to 118 Avenue and the former alignment being designated as Highway 16A.[7]

The City of Edmonton commissioned the 1963 Metro Edmonton Transportation Study (METS) to address the need for free-flow traffic corridors and more river crossings in the downtown area. The plan proposed a downtown freeway loop with feeder routes, including an eastern approach via 98 Avenue, a southern approach via the Mill Creek Ravine which would continue north across the river and continue north parallel to 95 Street, and a western approach via the MacKinnon Ravine and 100 Avenue. The eastern and southern approaches would be connected to the western approach via the south leg of the freeway loop, which cross the river near the Low Level Bridge and follow River Valley Road, along with a new arterial roadway via 97 Avenue.[8] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, road improvement projects outside downtown had connections to the 98 Avenue approach in mind. A major interchange at Highway 16 and Highway 16A (present-day Yellowhead Trail and Anthony Henday Drive) opened in 1971 and an interchange at Highway 16A and Highway 14X (present-day Anthony Henday Drive and Baseline Road, respectively) opened in 1975, featuring grading for a future eastbound to northbound flyover that was ultimately not constructed, the grading was removed when Anthony Henday Drive was reconstructed in the late 2010s.[9][10] As the residential neighbourhoods in eastern Edmonton were developed, Terrace Road was constructed to allow for continuous movement between Highway 16A east and 98 Avenue. The freeway proposal through the North Saskatchewan River valley and its feeder ravines proved to be very controversial, with public protests suspending construction shortly after clearing work had begun in the MacKinnon Ravine. In tandem with cost overruns, the majority of project was cancelled in 1974;[11][12] however, remnants of the larger project which were constructed include the interchange with Connors Road, the James MacDonald Bridge, and the tunnel underneath the Alberta Legislature grounds.

In the early 1980s, the Highway 16A designation was phased out within Edmonton city limits, with the Strathcona County section remaining along Baseline Road until 1996.[13] In the late 1990s, the City of Edmonton looked to establish an inner ring road, one proposal was designating Wayne Gretzky Drive and 50 Street as part of the eastern leg, with 98 Avenue as the connector.[14] In the end, 75 Street between Wayne Gretzky Drive and Whitemud Drive was designated as the eastern leg of the inner ring road.[15]

List of neighbourhoods 97/98/101 Avenue and Baseline Road runs through, in order from east to west:[16][17]

Starting at the west end of 97 Avenue.

Rural/specialized municipality	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
City of Edmonton		0.0	0.0	111 Street	At-grade; one-way (southbound); 97 Avenue is one-way (eastbound)
		0.1	0.062	110 Street	At-grade; one-way (northbound); 97 Avenue become two-way
		0.2	0.12	109 Street to Hwy 2 south – High Level Bridge	At-grade (traffic lights); no eastbound cross traffic
		0.3– 0.5	0.19– 0.31	Tunnel under Alberta Legislature grounds
		0.7	0.43	105 Street	At-grade (traffic lights); one-way (northbound)
		0.8	0.50	River Valley Road (104 Street) – RE/MAX Field	At-grade (traffic lights); one-way (southbound)
		0.9	0.56	Rossdale Road	At-grade (traffic lights); one-way (northbound)
		1.3– 1.8	0.81– 1.1	James MacDonald Bridge crosses the North Saskatchewan River East end of 97 Avenue • West end of 98 Avenue
		1.8– 2.3	1.1– 1.4	Connors Road, Low Level Bridge	Interchange
				Scona Road (to 99 Street, Saskatchewan Drive)	No westbound exit
		3.8	2.4	84 Street / 85 Street	Roundabout
		4.2	2.6	79 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
		4.7	2.9	75 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
		5.4	3.4	98 Avenue	Eastbound exit only
				East end of 98 Avenue • West end of Terrace Road
		5.7	3.5	98 Avenue (diversion)	At-grade (traffic lights)
		4.2	2.6	57 Street (to 101 Avenue) – Capilano Mall	At-grade (traffic lights)
		6.3	3.9	101 Avenue	Westbound exit only
				East end of Terrace Road • West end of 101 Avenue
		6.4	4.0	50 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
Strathcona County	Refinery Row	7.8	4.8	34 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
				East end of 101 Avenue • West end of Baseline Road
		9.6– 9.8	6.0– 6.1	17 Street	Quadrant roadway intersection (traffic lights)
	Sherwood Park	10.6– 12.0	6.6– 7.5	Anthony Henday Drive (Hwy 216)	Partial cloverleaf interchange (traffic signals); exit 58 on Hwy 216
		12.7	7.9	Broadmoor Boulevard	At-grade (traffic lights)
		14.3	8.9	Sherwood Drive	At-grade (traffic lights)
		16.4	10.2	Clover Bar Road	At-grade (traffic lights)
		17.6	10.9	Hwy 21 – Fort Saskatchewan, Camrose Township Road 530	At-grade (traffic lights); Township Road 530 continues east
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Route transition

101 Avenue (Forest/Terrace Heights segment)

Starting at the west end of 101 Avenue. The entire route is in Edmonton.

• List of avenues in Edmonton
• Transportation in Edmonton