Alberta Highway 4

Highway 4
Route information
Length:	103.4 km[1] (64.2 mi)
History:	1912 (Sunshine Trail) 1947 (paved) 2009 (twinning complete)
Major junctions
South end:	I‑15 at Canada–U.S. border at Coutts
	Hwy 36 at Warner Hwy 52 near Stirling Hwy 61 near Craddock
North end:	Hwy 3 in Lethbridge
Location
Specialized and rural municipalities:	Warner No. 5 County, Lethbridge County
Major cities:	Lethbridge
Towns:	Milk River
Villages:	Coutts, Warner
Highway system
Provincial highways in Alberta ← Hwy 3A Hwy 5 →

Northbound Highway 4 several kilometres south of Lethbridge, where it is a lightly travelled rural divided highway

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 4 is a 103 km (64 mi) north-south highway in southern Alberta, Canada, connecting Lethbridge to Interstate 15 via the border community of Coutts. It is a lightly travelled divided highway, but is designated as a core route in the National Highway System and forms part of the critical CANAMEX Corridor linking Canada to the United States and Mexico. Between Lethbridge and Stirling, Highway 4 is signed as part of the Red Coat Trail, a route stretching from southern Alberta into Manitoba. At its south terminus, Interstate 15 connects Alberta with the American cities of Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Highway 4 runs from Alberta's border with Montana through gentle rolling hills and farmlands in the south of the province, through Milk River, Warner and Stirling, to Crowsnest Trail on the east side of Lethbridge. The route was first called the Sunshine Trail in 1912, paralleling a historic branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway that dates back to the late 1800s. Though traffic volume is light, Alberta Transportation has proposed a bypass of Lethbridge that would link Highway 4 to a newly aligned Highway 3 north of Lethbridge, making the CANAMEX Corridor free-flowing from Coutts to Fort Macleod.

Route description

A component of the National Highway System,^[2] Highway 4 is a four-lane divided highway, constructed parallel to a line of the Canadian Pacific Railway.^[3] Outside of Lethbridge and Coutts, the highway has a posted speed limit of 110 km/h (68 mph), like most other major divided highways in Alberta outside of urban areas.^[4]

Interstate 15 becomes Highway 4 as it crosses the international border between Montana and Alberta into the Village of Coutts.^[3] The highway winds north out of Coutts alongside the railway to a three-way intersection with Highway 501 which leads west to Del Bonita. The two highways continue concurrently to the north, briefly paralleling Milk River. The concurrency ends and Highway 501 splits to the east into the community of Milk River, becoming Railway Street, while Highway 4 continues north across the river to bypass the town.^[5][6][7]

Highway 4 continues 16 km (9.9 mi) north to Warner, which it bypasses to the east;^[7][8] the original alignment of the highway was directly through the community.^[9] From Warner, Highway 36 splits to the north en route to Taber and Vauxhall. Highway 4 continues north-northwest to the Hamlet of New Dayton and an intersection with Highway 52 at Craddock, leading west to Raymond. Further north, Stirling Lake and the town of Stirling lie immediately west of Highway 4. New pavement was built east of Stirling to allow the divided highway to curve smoothly to the northeast, and a portion of the former two lane road remains.^[10] Just north of Stirling, Highway 61 splits to the east leading to Foremost. North of Stirling, the community of Wilson Siding lies at the intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 845. Highway 4 reaches Lethbridge and curves due west across the CPR tracks becoming 24 Avenue South.^[11]

In Lethbridge, the highway turns north onto 43rd Street as a major arterial road with a speed limit of 70 km/h (43 mph). It intersects the major east-west arterial routes of 20 Avenue and South Parkside Drive in south Lethbridge before crossing the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks a final time, then ends at an intersection with Crowsnest Trail.^[12] With only four traffic lights, it provides an alternative to the busy Mayor Magrath Drive, the main north-south route in Lethbridge, which has a dozen sets of lights over the same distance.^[11] The section of 43rd Street near 6 Avenue South is the busiest part of Highway 4, with nearly 20,000 vehicles per day in 2015. Outside of Lethbridge, the highway sees well under 10,000 vehicles per day, with numbers steadily decreasing closer to the United States border.^[13]

History

Like many other main highways in southern Alberta, the alignment of Highway 4 is based on an existing railway.^[14] In the late 1890s, a railway was constructed between Lethbridge and Coutts by the Alberta Railway and Coal Company, who then extended the route to Great Falls, Montana.^[15] A spur to the southwest from Stirling to Cardston was also built. A trail developed paralleling the railroad, eventually evolving by 1912 into a gravel road known as the Sunshine Trail.^[16][17] From Lehbridge, it followed the railway line on a southeasterly heading before turning east along Township Road 54 at New Dayton.^[9] It then followed present day Highway 36 due south through Warner, before turning back east toward the railway north of Milk River, before following it through the town and into Coutts.^[9] By 1947 the road had been paved, and designated as Highway 4 the following decade.^[16][18] Prior to the construction of 43rd Street, the former alignment of Highway 4 in Lethbridge was along Mayor Magrath Drive, cosigned with Highway 5 to 3 Avenue in south Lethbridge, which was then Highway 3.^[19] It was later signed as 24 Avenue past Highway 5 (Mayor Magrath Drive), becoming Scenic Drive and continuing in a northwest direction to Highway 3 near downtown.^[20]

43rd Street in south Lethbridge, the busiest section of Highway 4

In 1992, twinning of 43rd Street in Lethbridge was completed, although it did not carry the Highway 4 designation at this time.^[21] Plans to upgrade the CANAMEX Corridor in southern Alberta to a divided highway were confirmed by 1989, and reiterated as a priority by annual reports published by Alberta Transportation through the 1990s. The highway was the southern most component of what was then called the Export Highway, which also included Highways 2 and 3.^[22] By 1996, initial work had begun on twinning of a 13 km (8.1 mi) section north of Coutts, and a $26 million commitment was collectively made by Alberta to a group of projects that included the twinning of Highway 4 in Lethbridge.^[23][24] By 1998, a 12 km (7.5 mi) section south of Lethbridge to Highway 845 had been completed.^[25] The final sections were completed in the early 2000s, except for a $59 million bypass of Milk River that was completed in 2009.^[26]

In September 1999, Highway 4 and Interstate 15 in Montana, being the main highways between the cities of Helena and Lethbridge, were designated the First Special Service Force Memorial Highway.^[27] The route was travelled in 1942 by Canadian volunteers of the force to join their American counterparts for training at Fort William Henry Harrison.^[27]

Future bypass

Alberta Transportation has proposed the construction of a freeway bypass of Lethbridge, tentatively called Highway 4X. In combination with proposed bypasses of Fort Macleod, Claresholm and Nanton, the project would eliminate all traffic lights on the CANAMEX Corridor in southern Alberta.^[1][28] In a study completed by Stantec, the recommended alignment of the route would split from the existing Highway 4 southeast of Lethbridge between Range Roads 210 and 205, approximately equidistant between Lethbridge and Wilson Siding.^[28]:11 The divided highway would proceed due north, crossing Highway 3 between Lethbridge and Coaldale to a second new highway north of the city serving as a realigned Lethbridge bypass of Highway 3 between Township Roads 94 and 100. The alternative to a bypass project would be a significant upgrading of Crowsnest Trail to a freeway standard through Lethbridge. This upgrade would potentially require relocation of the adjacent CPR railway line, and significant demolition of adjacent properties. During the study, the city of Lethbridge indicated that this disruptive alignment would be rejected, hence the need for a bypass outside of city limits to the east and north.^[28]:5 In 2005, the entire project was estimated to cost $546 million.^[28]:12

Major intersections

Rural/specialized municipality	Location	km[7]	mi	Destinations	Notes
I‑15 south continues to Great Falls and Helena
County of Warner No. 5	Coutts	0	0.0	Canada – United States border
		1.3	0.81	Hwy 500 east
	​	16.1	10.0	Hwy 501 west – Del Bonita, Cardston	South end of Hwy 501 concurrency
	Milk River	19.2	11.9	Hwy 501 east (Railway Street) – Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park	North end of Hwy 501 concurrency South Milk River access (former Hwy 4 alignment)
		19.5	12.1	Crosses Milk River
		21.5	13.4	Railway Street to Hwy 501 east	North Milk River access (former Hwy 4 alignment)
	Warner	37.8	23.5	Hwy 36 north – Taber, Vauxhall, Brooks To Hwy 504 east
	​	46.2	28.7	Hwy 506 west
	New Dayton	59.2	36.8	Range Road 184	New Dayton access road
	​	65.8	40.9	Hwy 52 west – Raymond, Magrath
	Stirling	74.2	46.1	Hwy 61 (Red Coat Trail) east – Foremost, Manyberries Hwy 846 south (1st Street)	Red Coat Trail designation begins
Lethbridge County	​	86.4	53.7	Hwy 845 – Raymond, Coaldale
	​	88.8	55.2	Hwy 508 west – Lethbridge Airport
City of Lethbridge		99.5	61.8	24th Avenue S to Hwy 5 south – Cardston 43rd Street	Former alignment of Hwy 4 continues west Hwy 4 turns north along 43rd Street
		101.0	62.8	South Parkside Drive
		102.7	63.8	Hwy 512 east (1st Avenue S)
		103.4	64.2	Hwy 3 west (Crowsnest Trail, Red Coat Trail) – Fort Macleod, Calgary, Crowsnest Pass Hwy 3 east (Crowsnest Highway) – Coaldale, Taber, Medicine Hat	Red Coat Trail follows Hwy 3 west
Continues as 43rd Street to Hwy 843
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Route transition

See also

• CANAMEX Corridor
• Pan-American Highway
• Transportation in Lethbridge

References