Alberta Highway 9
# Alberta Highway 9

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 9, commonly referred to as Highway 9, is a highway in south-central Alberta, Canada, which together with Saskatchewan Highway 7 connects Calgary to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan via Drumheller. It is designated as a core route of the National Highway System, forming a portion of an interprovincial corridor. Highway 9 spans approximately 324 km (201 mi) from the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) east of Calgary to Alberta's border with Saskatchewan.

## Route description

Highway 9 begins at its interchange with Highway 1 approximately 10 km (6 mi) east of Chestermere and 20 km (12 mi) west of Strathmore, and approximately 6 km (4 mi) north of Langdon via Highway 797. For its first 45 km (28 mi), Highway 9 generally runs in a north/south direction to Beiseker, where it meets Highways 72 and 806. At Beiseker, Highway 9 runs in an east-west direction for 64 km (40 mi) to Drumheller, where it meets Highways 10 and 56. Highways 9 and 56 then run in a north/south concurrence for 22 km (14 mi) from Drumheller to its intersection with Highway 27 east of Morrin. Highway 9 leaves the concurrence at this point and runs east/west for the balance of route to the Saskatchewan border, providing connections to Hanna and Oyen as well as numerous smaller communities, and generally running parallel to Highway 12 to the north. The highway continues as Saskatchewan Highway 7 in a northeast direction toward Saskatoon.

## History

Over the past few years, the province of Alberta has executed a number of upgrades to the highway, widening shoulders and realigning the road (most recently just west of Drumheller, although the new alignment now bypasses the Horseshoe Canyon landmark as a result). As of 2007, however, the province has yet to twin any stretch of the busy highway, and there have been calls for interchanges to be built at its junctions with Highway 21 and the Trans-Canada due to the number of fatal automobile accidents that have happened at these locations.

A partial cloverleaf interchange was constructed in 2007 where Highway 9 crosses the Trans-Canada Highway. As well, the junction with Highway 21 was changed to a four-way stop in early 2011.

## Major intersections

The following is a list of major intersections along Alberta Highway 9 from west to east.

| Rural/specialized municipality | Location | km | mi | Destinations | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Foothills County | ​ | −22.6 | −14.0 | Hwy 552 – De Winton | Hwy 797 southern terminus; unsigned |
| Foothills County | ​ | −19.7 | −12.2 | dead end | Hwy 797 northern terminus |
| Gap in Hwy 797 / Range Road 273 (Bow River) ||||||
| Rocky View County | ​ | −16.2 | −10.1 | Township Road 220 | |
| Rocky View County | ​ | −8.1 | −5.0 | Hwy 22X – Calgary, Gleichen | |
| Rocky View County | Langdon | −6.5 | −4.0 | Hwy 560 west (Glenmore Trail) / Township Road 234 – Calgary | Hwy 797 southern terminus |
| Rocky View County | ​ | 0.0 | 0.0 | Hwy 1 (TCH) – Strathmore, Medicine Hat, Calgary | Interchange |
| Hwy 9 western terminus • Hwy 797 northern terminus ||
| Rocky View County | ​ | 13.0 | 8.1 | Hwy 564 – Delacour, Calgary | |
| Rocky View County | ​ | 19.4 | 12.1 | Hwy 566 west – Balzac, Kathyrn, Keoma | |
| Rocky View County | ​ | 32.7 | 20.3 | Hwy 567 west – Airdrie | |
| Rocky View County | Irricana | 35.1 | 21.8 | UAR 144 west | |
| Rocky View County | Beiseker | 43.2 | 26.8 | UAR 141 west | |
| Rocky View County | Beiseker | 44.3 | 27.5 | Hwy 72 west – Crossfield Hwy 806 north – Acme, Linden | Hwy 9 branches east; former Hwy 21A / Hwy 26 north |
| Wheatland County / Kneehill County | ​ | 63.8 | 39.6 | Hwy 21 – Three Hills, Strathmore | |
| Wheatland County / Kneehill County | ​ | 70.3 | 43.7 | Hwy 836 north – Carbon | Former Hwy 26 north |
| Wheatland County / Kneehill County | ​ | 82.7 | 51.4 | Hwy 840 south – Rosebud, Standard | |
| Kneehill County | ​ | 98.6 | 61.3 | Hwy 841 south – Dalum | |
| Town of Drumheller | Town of Drumheller | 106.8 | 66.4 | Hwy 10 east / Hwy 56 south (Railway Avenue S) – Rosedale5 Street SE | Hwy 9 branches northwest; west end of Hwy 56 concurrency |
| Town of Drumheller | Town of Drumheller | 107.7 | 66.9 | 2 Street SW Hwy 575 west (South Dinosaur Trail) – Nacmine | Hwy 9 / Hwy 56 branches north |
| Town of Drumheller | Town of Drumheller | 108.3 | 67.3 | Crosses the Red Deer River | Crosses the Red Deer River |
| Town of Drumheller | Town of Drumheller | 108.8 | 67.6 | Hwy 838 west (North Dinosaur Trail) – Royal Tyrrell Museum | |
| Town of Drumheller | Town of Drumheller | 109.1 | 67.8 | Hwy 576 east | |
| Starland County | Munson | 119.4 | 74.2 | Township Road 302 | |
| Starland County | ​ | 129.0 | 80.2 | Hwy 27 west – Morrin, Three Hills Hwy 56 north – Stettler | Hwy 9 branches east; east end of Hwy 56 concurrency |
| Starland County | ​ | 142.0 | 88.2 | Hwy 849 south – Michichi | |
| Starland County | ​ | 151.8 | 94.3 | Hwy 851 – Byemoor, Delia | |
| Starland County | ​ | 161.5 | 100.4 | UAR 122 north – Craigmyle | |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 172.9 | 107.4 | Hwy 855 north – Watts, Endiang | |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 174.6 | 108.5 | Hwy 862 south – Gem | |
| Special Area No. 2 | Hanna | 183.1 | 113.8 | Palliser Trail (Range Road 144) | |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 189.8 | 117.9 | Hwy 36 north – Castor, Viking | West end of Hwy 36 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 2 | ​ | 192.4 | 119.6 | Hwy 36 south – Brooks, Taber | East end of Hwy 36 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | Youngstown | 237.0 | 147.3 | Hwy 884 south – Big Stone | West end of Hwy 884 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 244.0 | 151.6 | Hwy 884 north – Veteran | West end of Hwy 884 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | Cereal | 267.5 | 166.2 | Hwy 886 – Sedalia, Consort, Buffalo | |
| Special Area No. 3 | Oyen | 291.1 | 180.9 | Hwy 41 – Consort, Oyen, Medicine Hat | |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 309.2 | 192.1 | Hwy 899 north – Esther | West end Hwy 899 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 310.9 | 193.2 | Hwy 899 south | East end of Hwy 899 concurrency |
| Special Area No. 3 | ​ | 324.1 | 201.4 | Hwy 7 east – Alsask, Kindersley, Saskatoon | Continues east into Saskatchewan |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Closed/former Concurrency terminus Route transition ||||||

## Highway 797

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 797, commonly referred to as Highway 797, is a highway in the Calgary Region that functions as a southern extension of Highway 9. It presently is in two segments; the 6.5 km (4.0 mi) northern segment runs from Highway 560 (Glenmore Trail) in Langdon to the Trans-Canada Highway, while the 2.9 km (1.8 mi) southern section is unsigned and runs from Highway 552 to the south bank of the Bow River. The northern segment used to extend from Langdon to the north bank of the Bow River, indicating that a bridge might be constructed to connect the two sections. The bridge was not constructed and the 9.7 km (6.0 mi) section was transferred to Rocky View County in the 2000s.

