Macleod Trail
Macleod Trail is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. It is a six- to eight-lane principal arterial road extending from downtown Calgary to the south of the city, where it merges into Highway 2. South of Anderson Road, Macleod Trail is an expressway and is slated to be upgraded to a freeway in the future. It is named for its destination to the south, Fort Macleod.
 Macleod Trail in downtown Calgary, 2011 | |
| Part of |  Hwy 2A |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | City of Calgary, Alberta Transportation |
| Length | 27.7 km[1] (17.2 mi) |
| Location | Calgary, Alberta |
| North end | Riverfront Avenue |
| Major junctions | Glenmore Trail, Southland Drive, Anderson Road, Stoney Trail |
| South end | Hwy 2 (Deerfoot Trail) |
Route description
Macleod Trail effectively divides the southwest and the southeast quadrants of the city, and many communities (inner city as well as suburban) were developed along its course.[2] Macleod Trail (along with Crowchild Trail and Deerfoot Trail) constitutes one of the three major north-south corridors of the city.[3]
Beginning as a one-way street for northbound traffic (with southbound traffic following 1st Street SE one block to the west), the road passes by Calgary City Hall, Olympic Plaza, the building that housed the former Calgary Central Library, and the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts. South of downtown, it defines the western edge of the Calgary Stampede grounds, as it passes through the Beltline district, then provides access to Talisman Centre as it runs between the historic inner city communities of Mission and Ramsay. South of Elbow River, Macleod Trail becomes a two-way road and has various motels established on its sides, and Chinook Centre faces the road as it passes between the communities of Meadowlark Park, Kingsland and Fairview. Macleod Trail is lined with commercial developments on both sides for its entire length between Erlton and Lake Bonavista, including strip malls, auto malls, big-box stores and shopping centres such as Southcentre Mall, and Calgary's largest suburban office complex at Southland Park. The southern leg of the C-Train LRT system (Route 201) is also developed along Macleod Trail.
In November 2007, Calgary City Council approved a functional planning study for the portion of Macleod Trail that extends from Anderson Road north to Downtown. Expected recommendations include interchanges at Heritage Drive and Southland Drive, as well as possible traffic signal refinements.[4] In addition, three other interchange locations are planned to be constructed within ten years. They are at the intersection with Lake Fraser Gate, at the intersection with 162 Avenue, and at the intersection with 194 Avenue.[5][6] This would make Macleod Trail a freeway from Anderson Road to nearly the city limits. On August 13, 2017, the first diverging diamond interchange in Canada was opened at 162 Avenue.[7][8][9]
Major intersections
From north to south:[10]
| Location | km[1] | mi | Destinations | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary | 0.0 | 0.0 | Riverfront Avenue | At grade; one-way couplets; northbound traffic follows Macleod Trail, southbound traffic follows 1 Street SE | |||
| 0.2 | 0.12 | 4 Avenue SE | Westbound one-way | ||||
| 0.3 | 0.19 | 5 Avenue SE | Eastbound one-way; connects to Memorial Drive and Edmonton Trail | ||||
| 0.4 | 0.25 | 6 Avenue SE | Westbound one-way west of Macleod Trail | ||||
| 0.5 | 0.31 |  7 Avenue SE – City Hall (C-Train) | Transit mall; passes the historic Calgary City Hall | ||||
| 0.6 | 0.37 | 8 Avenue SE (Stephen Avenue) | Pedestrian mall; passes the Calgary Municipal Building and Olympic Plaza | ||||
| 0.7 | 0.43 | 9 Avenue SE | Eastbound one-way | ||||
| 0.8 | 0.50 | 10 Avenue SE | |||||
| 0.9 | 0.56 | 11 Avenue SE | Westbound one-way | ||||
| 1.1 | 0.68 | 12 Avenue SE – Stampede Park, Scotiabank Saddledome | Eastbound one-way | ||||
| 1.4 | 0.87 | 17 Avenue SE – Victoria Park/Stampede (C-Train) | |||||
| 1.8 | 1.1 | Crosses the Elbow River Victoria Bridge (northbound) and Pattison Bridge (southbound) | |||||
| 1.9 | 1.2 | One-way transition; south-to-north U-turn ramp | |||||
| 2.3 | 1.4 | 25 Avenue SE – Erlton/Stampede (C-Train), Stampede Park | |||||
| 3.1 | 1.9 | Spiller Road | Northbound right in/right out; original alignment of Macleod Trail (pre-1967)[11] | ||||
| 3.3 | 2.1 | 36 Avenue SE / Mission Road | |||||
| 3.6 | 2.2 | 39 Avenue S – 39 Avenue (C-Train) | |||||
| 3.9 | 2.4 | 42 Avenue S | |||||
| 4.8 | 3.0 | 50 Avenue SW | |||||
| 5.7 | 3.5 | 58 Avenue SW | |||||
| 5.9 | 3.7 | Chinook Centre access road | No northbound entrance | ||||
| 6.1 | 3.8 | 61 Avenue SW – Chinook Centre, Chinook (C-Train) | |||||
| 6.4 | 4.0 |  Glenmore Trail – Rockyview General Hospital | Single-point urban interchange (traffic signals) | ||||
| 7.0 | 4.3 | 71 Avenue S | |||||
| 7.4 | 4.6 | 75 Avenue SW | |||||
| 7.7 | 4.8 | 78 Avenue SW | Grade separated | ||||
| 8.1 | 5.0 | Heritage Drive – Heritage (C-Train), Heritage Park | |||||
| 8.5 | 5.3 | 86 Avenue SE / Hull Avenue | |||||
| 8.9 | 5.5 | 90 Avenue SE | |||||
| 9.3 | 5.8 | 94 Avenue SE | |||||
| 9.7 | 6.0 | Southland Drive – Southland (C-Train) | |||||
| 10.2 | 6.3 | 99 Avenue S | |||||
| 10.5 | 6.5 | Southport Road / Willow Park Drive – Anderson (C-Train) | |||||
| 10.8 | 6.7 | 109 Avenue S – Anderson (C-Train), Southcentre Mall | Becomes an expressway | ||||
| 10.9 | 6.8 | Access road – Southcentre Mall | Northbound right in/right out | ||||
| 11.3 | 7.0 |   Anderson Road to Hwy 1 west / Hwy 2 north | Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||
| Lake Fraser Drive | Northbound exit only | ||||||
| 12.1 | 7.5 | Lake Fraser Drive | Northbound right in/right out | ||||
| 12.5 | 7.8 | Lake Fraser Gate | Northbound right in/right out weekdays from 6 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.[12] | ||||
| 13.5 | 8.4 | Canyon Meadows Drive – Canyon Meadows (C-Train) | Partial cloverleaf interchange; also accesses Lake Fraser Drive. | ||||
| 13.7 | 8.5 | Crosses Fish Creek | |||||
| 14.1 | 8.8 | Bannister Road / Shawnee Gate – Fish Creek Provincial Park | Southbound exit; northbound entrance | ||||
| 14.6 | 9.1 | James McKevitt Road – Fish Creek – Lacombe (C-Train) | Southbound right in/right out | ||||
| 14.9 | 9.3 | 149 Avenue SE to Bannister Road – Fish Creek Provincial Park | Northbound right in/right out; northbound access to James McKevitt Road | ||||
| 15.5 | 9.6 | Shawnessy Boulevard / Midlake Boulevard – Shawnessy (C-Train) | Partial cloverleaf interchange; accesses Shawville Boulevard and Bannister Road. | ||||
| 16.6 | 10.3 | 162 Avenue SE / Sun Valley Boulevard – Somerset-Bridlewood (C-Train) | Canada's first Diverging diamond interchange | ||||
| 17.2– 18.4 | 10.7– 11.4 | Shawville Boulevard | Southbound exit only | ||||
 Stoney Trail (Hwy 201) | Exit 5 on Hwy 201); cloverstack interchange under construction; former Hwy 22X; Hwy 2A northern terminus | ||||||
| 20.0 | 12.4 | 194 Avenue SE | |||||
| 21.2 | 13.2 | 210 Avenue SE | Intersections are offset by 70 m (230 ft) | ||||
| ↑ / ↓ | 23.3 | 14.5 |  Hwy 552 south (226 Avenue S) – De Winton | Southbound right in/right out | |||
| M.D. of Foothills No. 31 | 25.4 | 15.8 | Dunbow Road – De Winton, Heritage Pointe | Northbound access to Hwy 552 | |||
| 27.7 | 17.2 |  Hwy 2 north (Deerfoot Trail) – Airport, Edmonton | Y interchange (exit 225 on Hwy 2); northbound exit, southbound entrance | ||||
| Continues as Hwy 2 south / Hwy 2A south – Okotoks, Fort Macleod, Lethbridge | |||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||
History
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From 1949 to 1958, the Chinook Drive-In was located on McLeod Trail a half mile south of the Calgary city limits.[13]
See also
References
- "Macleod Trail". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- City of Calgary (February 2005). "The Calgary Transportation Plan". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- City of Calgary (July 2002). "Transportation System Map". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
- Calgary Herald (November 2007). "Alderman Urging Macleod Trail Study". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- City Of Calgary (April 2007). "Calgary Regional Transportation Model Anticipated Projects List 2001-2015" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- City Of Calgary (April 2007). "Calgary Regional Transportation Model Anticipated Projects List 2020-2035" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- "Macleod Trail / 162 Avenue S Interchange". Transportation Infrastructure. City of Calgary. October 1, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
- "Unique interchange, first of its kind in Canada, opens in south Calgary". CBC News. August 13, 2017.
- Yourex-West, Heather (2017-08-14). "Canada's first 'diverging diamond interchange' now open to Calgary traffic - Calgary | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
- Sherlock's Map of Calgary (16th ed.). Langdon, Alberta: Sherlock Publishing Ltd. 2014. pp. 28, 35, 41, 47, 53, 57, 78. ISBN 1-895229-80-4.
- Carter, Beth (April 2011). "Old North Trail" (PDF). Ramsay News. Ramsay Community Association. p. 10. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- "Lake Fraser Gate traffic improvements". City of Calgary. October 10, 2012. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- "Chinook Drive-In". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 5 September 2019.