Roads in Alberta - Primary Highways, 500-986 Series

Primary Highways, 500-986 Series

Alberta's 500 to 986 Series of Primary Highways are generally considered local or rural highways. Prior to 2000/2001, this highway series was under municipal jurisdiction and was previously known as Alberta’s ‘Secondary Highway’ network. Over a short period of time in 2000 and 2001, responsibility and funding of this highway network was transferred to the Province, particularly Alberta Transportation. Concurrent with the transfer, the designation of the ‘Secondary Highways’ network was changed to the ‘Primary Highways, 500 to 986 Series’ network to reflect that they were now under provincial jurisdiction. As a result, the Province’s ‘Primary Highways’ network was also redesignated as the ‘Primary Highways, 1 to 216 Series’ network. Despite the change in jurisdiction and the redesignation, this series of highways is still commonly referred to as ‘Secondary Highways’ by the public, municipalities, politicians, the media and even other provincial ministries.

The 500 to 986 Series of Primary Highways is divided into three sub-series:

• The 500/600 Highways are west-east roads where the numbering increases northward from the Montana border to the Northwest Territories border.
• The 700/800 Highways are south-north roads where numbering increases eastward from the British Columbia border to the Saskatchewan border.
• The 900 Highways are newer or planned roads that have been established for future consideration as, or as potential extensions or re-alignments of, the 1-216 Highway Series.

Some of these highways are paved, while others are entirely or partially gravel. Rural speed limits range from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 100 km/h (62 mph).