Stoney Trail
Highway 201, better known by its official names of Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail, is a freeway that encircles Calgary, Alberta. It serves as a bypass for the congested routes of 16 Avenue N and Deerfoot Trail through Calgary. At its busiest point near Beddington Trail in north Calgary, the six-lane freeway carried nearly 70,000 vehicles per day in 2023, and forms part of the CANAMEX Corridor which connects Calgary to Edmonton and Interstate 15 in the United States via Highways 2, 3, and 4.
The official starting point of the ring is at Deerfoot Trail in southeast Calgary, with exit numbers increasing as the freeway proceeds clockwise. West of Deerfoot, it crosses the Bow River and Macleod Trail before turning north and becoming Tsuut'ina Trail as it crosses Fish Creek into the Tsuutʼina Nation. North of the Elbow River, the name reverts to Stoney Trail as the highway bends west to a split from Highway 8. It turns north across Highway 1 and a second crossing of the Bow River near Canada Olympic Park to Crowchild Trail, winding through the hills of northwest Calgary to Deerfoot Trail and the southern end of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway. Turning south, the ring again intersects Highway 1, crosses Glenmore Trail, and curves west at the neighbourhood of Mahogany back to Deerfoot Trail, completing the ring.
The freeway's "Stoney" name is derived from the Nakoda First Nation, one of several major thoroughfares in the region that bear Indigenous names. Construction first began in northwest Calgary as an expressway in the 1990s, incrementally extending clockwise towards Deerfoot Trail before two public–private partnership projects completed the northeast and southeast sections in 2009 and 2013, respectively. After decades of attempting to acquire right of way from the adjacent Tsuutʼina Nation for the southwest portion of the road, Alberta finally struck a deal in 2013 with the Nation that included a transfer of Crown land and other compensation, allowing completion of the southwest quadrant in 2021. A final short segment between Highways 1 and 8 opened in 2023, some 70 years after Calgary city planners had first presented plans for the ring road.
Route description
Stoney Trail encircles all of Calgary. The northern and southern sections create a northern and eastern bypass link between Highway 1 and Deerfoot Trail. Most of the highway is 6 lanes except for several short 8 lane sections in West Calgary and a 4 lane section in Northeast Calgary.West Calgary
Due to the western side of the city being located in the outer limits of the Rocky Mountain foothills the west section of Stoney Trail intersects several hills and valleys with many stream crossings, broad sweeping curves and moderately steeps hills as it navigates its way though rolling terrain.Alberta Transportation defines the interchange between Stoney Trail and Deerfoot Trail in Southern Calgary as the starting and ending point of the ring road with exits numbered clockwise. Starting from this interchange Stoney Trail heads west and immediately dips into the Bow River valley and crosses the river. After exiting the valley it passes through an interchange at Chaparral Boulevard/Sun Valley Drive before meeting Macleod Trail at a free flowing combination interchange. From here the highway continues west though two more interchanges before reaching a left hand exit for Highway 22X where Stoney Trail curves north.
From here the highway follows the western edge of the city passing through interchanges at 162nd Avenue and Fish Creek Boulevard before crossing Fish Creek itself on a pair of bridges carrying 8 lanes of traffic. At this point Stoney Trail enters the Tsuu T'ina Nation Reservation and Highway 201's name changes to Tsuut'ina Trail to reflect this. The highway continues past a major new shopping development on the reservation serviced by a small half-diamond interchange at 130th Avenue and a larger combination interchange at Anderson Road. It then veers away from the edge of the city cutting through a corner of the reservation and passing a small interchange for 90th Avenue. It then descends across a wide causeway to cross the Elbow River on a 10 lane bridge before meeting Glenmore Trail and Sarcee Trail and two smaller roads in a very large free flowing combination Interchange. Here the highway turns west exiting the Tsuu T'ina Reservation, once again becoming Stoney Trail. After passing an interchange at 69th Street/Discovery Ridge Boulevard Stoney Trail reaches a directional T interchange with Highway 8 where the ring road once again turns north and ascends Coach Hill passing through 3 interchanges before dropping down a steep excavated cut to meet Highway 1 in another large free flowing combination interchange.
After passing through the Highway 1 interchange, 8 lanes of Stoney Trail cross the Bow River on a pair of high bridges before passing through an interchange at Nose Hill Drive and ascending a long hill past another interchange at Tuscany Boulevard/Scenic Acres Link and then a large modified cloverleaf interchange at Crowchild Trail. From here the highway levels out and begins to make a broad turn through Northwest Calgary passing through interchanges at Country Hills Boulevard, Sarcee Trail, Shaganappi Trail and Beddington Trail before crossing West Nose Creek. It then climbs up a small hill, turns completely east and passes though interchanges at 14th Street, Harvest Hills Boulevard/Center Street and 11th Street before reaching the large free flowing combination interchange at Deerfoot Trail which is one of the largest Interchanges in Western Canada by footprint area.
The section of Stoney/Tsuut'ina Trail between Highway 22X and Highway 8 has an extremely wide median to allow for future expansion of up to 16 lanes if required.
East Calgary
Unlike in West Calgary, the terrain in East Calgary is flat. Therefore, Stoney Trail follows a straight alignment with only two significant corners at the NE and SE edges of the city. It has no hills or stream crossing along its length as it does not intersect any valleys. The interchanges on the east section tend to be more spaced apart than on the west section.Shortly after passing through the interchange at Deerfoot Trail, Stoney Trail passes though another interchange at Metis Trail. It then bends around a 90 degree corner to head straight south along the eastern edge of the city. It passes though interchanges at Country Hills Boulevard, Airport Trail and McKnight Boulevard before entering a free flowing combination interchange at Highway 1. From there it continues straight south along flat terrain passing through several more interchanges at 17th Avenue, Peigan Trail, Glenmore Trail and 114th Avenue before intersecting Highway 22X in a combination interchange where Stoney Trail makes another 90 degree turn to begin heading west. After passing an interchange at 52nd street Stoney Trail reaches the combination Interchange at Deerfoot Trail that marks the starting and ending point for the ring road.
Lane count
Despite being a relatively new highway, some sections of Stoney Trail have seen upgrades since they opened, including lane additions.History
Planning for the Calgary and Edmonton ring roads began in the 1970s when Alberta developed some restricted development areas in a corridor of land then mostly outside the developed civic areas for future infrastructure, including high-speed ring-road systems. This land is also known as the Transportation and Utility Corridor, as land set aside for future road and utility purposes. Land acquisition started in 1974, and by the time the ring road projects were initiated, Alberta had acquired 97% of the lands. The Calgary TUC failed to include a corridor in southwest Calgary between Glenmore Trail and Highway 22X. The City of Calgary is bounded along 37 Street SW by the Tsuut'ina Nation. The developed areas of Calgary had already reached 37 Street SW around the Glenmore Reservoir inhibiting the ability of the government to impose an RDA. The missing link in the TUC map created uncertainty in the future positioning of the southwest leg of the freeway. In 2013, a land acquisition agreement was signed by Alberta with the Tsuut'ina Nation, and construction began in 2016.Northwest leg
The northwest quadrant of the ring road was the first to be constructed. In the mid-1990s, the province of Alberta built the first segment around the Bow River Bridge connecting Highway 1 with Crowchild Trail. This was subsequently extended to Country Hills Boulevard. In 2003, the province announced plans for a extension east to Deerfoot Trail. The original design was limited in scope and incorporated two interchanges, one flyover and two signalized intersections with completion scheduled in 2007 at a cost of $250 million. In January 2005, the province announced an increase in scope of the project with the addition of three additional interchanges at Crowchild Trail, Country Hills Boulevard and Scenic Acres Link.In addition to increasing costs, the project was delayed and the full extension to Deerfoot Trail was not opened until November 2, 2009, although some sections were opened earlier.
The portion of the ring road between Harvest Hills Boulevard and Deerfoot Trail opened to traffic on November 2, 2009. 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles were expected to use this segment daily. Actual peak traffic volumes exceeded 40,000 vpd between Crowchild Trail and Country Hills Boulevard in 2010.
The northwest ring road opened on November 2, 2009, with traffic signals at Harvest Hills Boulevard but grading was completed for a future possible interchange. On November 25, 2009, the province announced construction of the Harvest Hills Boulevard Interchange to be opening in fall 2010. The cost of the interchange project was $14 million. The interchange opened to traffic in 2010.
A signalized intersection was initially constructed at Beddington Trail and Symons Valley Road, but it was upgraded to an interchange when the project was finished in 2009. This interchange opened in July 2009, when the segment from Sarcee Trail to Harvest Hills Boulevard was opened a few months ahead of the full extension to Deerfoot Trail. Originally, Alberta Transportation intended only to construct a flyover at Shaganappi Trail, with no connections to the northwest ring road when the project was initiated but was upgraded to an interchange when the project was finished in 2009. This interchange opened in July 2009 when the segment from Sarcee Trail to Harvest Hills Boulevard was opened a few months ahead of the full extension to Deerfoot Trail.
File:Stoney trail bridge over the Bow river Calgary.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|The bridge carrying Stoney Trail over the Bow River near Canada Olympic Park was twinned as part of work on the final leg of the ring
At Sarcee Trail a signalized intersection was initially constructed, but upgraded to an interchange when the project was completed. The segment from Country Hills Boulevard to Sarcee Trail was opened on November 25, 2008, a year ahead of the full extension to Deerfoot Trail. An interchange at Country Hills Boulevard was added to the northwest ring road project in January 2005 to replace the original signalized intersection built when this segment of the ring road was built in the 1990s. The original project scope had this remaining as a signalized intersection. The interchange opened to traffic in September 2008.
A new interchange was announced on January 28, 2005, for Crowchild Trail as part of an upgrade to the $250 million project. Plans to extend the CTrain resulted in changes to the design of the interchange. The Crowchild Interchange was constructed along a pre-existing portion of Stoney Trail, and the design was modified to be free-flowing and to include an LRT bridge to allow for the CTrain to be extended west to Tuscany station. The Crowchild interchange fully opened to traffic on September 28, 2011.
In January 2005, an interchange at Tuscany Boulveard/Scenic Acres Link was added. The full interchange opened to traffic in the fall of 2009. Following the completion of the Crowchild Trail interchange, the only remaining traffic signals were at the intersection with Nose Hill Drive. Aecom was retained in the spring of 2010 to plan, design and administer construction of this interchange to be open in the fall of 2012. Design and public information delays caused Alberta Transportation to revise its expectations and it was announced that construction of the interchange would commence in early 2011 and be completed in the fall of 2013. However, the tender process was slow to be initiated and it was not until November 17, 2011, that Alberta Transportation announced the Nose Hill Drive interchange would be built by Acciona Infrastructure Canada at a cost of $67 million and be opened to traffic in the fall of 2014.