Alberta Highway 16X
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 16X, commonly referred to as Highway 16X, is the designation of one former and three proposed routes off Highway 16 in Alberta, Canada. The former section was a east–west provincial highway in Edmonton Capital Region, that existed for approximately 20 years between the 1970s and 1997 and is now part of Highway 16. Right of way is set aside around Hinton, Edson, and Lloydminster that is presently designated as Highway 16X.
History
In the 1970s, Highway 16 was a four-lane, divided highway that passed along the northern edge of Stony Plain, through Spruce Grove, and passed through Edmonton along Stony Plain Road, Mayfield Road, 111 Avenue, and 118 Avenue. The need for a free-flow bypass was identified, however interchanges within Spruce Grove were deemed impractical. A bypass was built north of the existing highway. Construction began of a two-lane highway west out of Edmonton along 118 Avenue, with sections opening throughout the early 1980s until it reached Highway 16, approximately east of Highway 43. Highway 16 was redesignated to follow Stony Plain Road, 170 Street, and Yellowhead Trail through Edmonton. By 1988, Highway 16X was twinned and transitioned to being the preferred western entrance into Edmonton, while the Stony Plain Road section of Highway 16 was more focused on commuter traffic. In 1990, in conjunction with Highway 16 assuming the Trans-Canada Highway route shield, Highway 16X also assumed the shield, an exception to the general practice in Alberta where suffixed routes are signed only with a standard Alberta highway shield.For consistency, the main business and commuter route was renumbered to Highway 16A in 1997 and renamed as the Parkland Highway while the main tourist route became Highway 16.