Alberta Highway 40 Explained

Province:AB
Type:Hwy
Route:40
Alternate Name:Bighorn Highway, Kananaskis Trail, Forestry Trunk Road
Maint:Alberta Transportation
Map:Alberta Highway 040.png
Length Notes:Two sections: and
Direction A:South
Direction B:North
Section1:Crowsnest Pass segment
Length Km1:3.8
Terminus A1: in Coleman
Terminus B1:Forestry Trunk Road north of Coleman
Section2:Kananaskis Trail segment
Length Km2:104
Terminus A2: in Highwood House
Terminus B2: south of Seebe
Section3:Forestry Trunk Road segment
Length Km3:46
Terminus B3: north of Waiparous
Section4:Northern segment
Length Km4:434
Terminus A4: south of Coalspur
Junction4: in Coalspur
in Hinton
Terminus B4: in Grande Prairie
Rural Municipalities:Crowsnest Pass, M.D. of Ranchland No. 66, Kananaskis I.D., M.D. of Bighorn No. 8, Rocky View County, Yellowhead County, M.D. Greenview No. 16, County of Grande Prairie No. 1
Cities:Grande Prairie
Towns:Hinton
Previous Type:Hwy
Previous Route:39
Next Type:Hwy
Next Route:41
Restrictions:Annually closed between Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and Hwy 541 from December 1 - June 14.[1]

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 40, commonly referred to as Highway 40, is a south–north highway in western Alberta, Canada. It is also named Bighorn Highway and Kananaskis Trail in Kananaskis Country. Its segmented sections extend from Coleman in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass northward to the City of Grande Prairie and is currently divided into four sections.[2]

Route description

The southernmost section is gravel; it runs for through the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, where it then becomes the Forestry Trunk Road to Highway 541, which has a combined length of .

The second section of Highway 40 is Kananaskis Trail, which is paved and runs through Kananaskis Country for from Highway 541, over Highwood Pass, and through Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and Spray Valley Provincial Park. The highway passes Kananaskis Village before terminating at the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1).

The third section is gravel and is part of the Forestry Trunk Road, which runs from Highway 1A to Highway 579. The highway continues as the Forestry Trunk Road and Highway 734 for approximately, through the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve. The intention is that one day the entire road will be a continuous paved highway. In the past, other gravel sections were named Highway 940; the 900 series in Alberta is used for temporary names. There is no signed connection between the Kananaskis Trail section and the Forestry Trunk Road section; however, it is connected by using Highway 1, Highway 1X, and Highway 1A between Seebe and Ghost Lake.

The fourth section is and runs from the Lovett River in Yellowhead County to the City of Grande Prairie. The section south of Cadomin is gravel while the remainder is paved. The highway shares concurrency with the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), before continuing north and passing through the Hamlet of Grande Cache en route to Grande Prairie.

Major intersections

Starting from the south end of Highway 40:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Annual Road Closures. Alberta Parks. February 14, 2017. en.
  2. Web site: 2015 Provincial Highway 1-216 Progress Chart . https://web.archive.org/web/20160410182657/http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType329/Production/2015_PROVINCIAL_HWY_1-216_CONTROL_SECTION_MAP.pdf . April 10, 2016 . October 12, 2016 . March 2015 . Alberta Transportation . live .