Alberta Highway 56

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 56, commonly referred to as Highway 56, is a north-south highway in central Alberta, Canada. It begins near the locality of Crowfoot, 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Bassano, at Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway). It continues through Drumheller and Stettler before ending at Highway 26, 6 km (4 mi) east of Camrose.^[2][3]

Highway 56
Route information
Maintained by the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors
Length	249.8 km[1] (155.2 mi)
Major junctions
South end	Highway 1 (TCH) near Crowfoot
Major intersections	Highway 10 in Drumheller Highway 9 in Drumheller Highway 9 / Highway 27 near Morrin Highway 12 in Stettler Highway 53 near Donalda Highway 13 near Camrose
North end	Highway 26 near Camrose
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Specialized and rural municipalities	Wheatland County, Starland County, Stettler No. 6 County, Camrose County
Towns	Stettler, Drumheller
Highway system
Alberta Provincial Highway Network List Former
← Highway 55 → Highway 58

History

Intersection of Highway 56 and Highway 10

In the early 1990s, there was talk of extending Highway 56 from the Highway 1 to the US border. This was due in large part to then Alberta Premier Don Getty, who at the time was also the MLA for Stettler. All talk of this endeavor stopped once Getty retired from politics and was succeeded as Premier by Ralph Klein.

In September 2021, a 4.0 km (2.5 mi) section of Highway 834 was renumbered to Highway 56, extending its northern terminus from Highway 13 to Highway 26. The renumbering was a response to local requests to align the numbering of the short portion of highway with the pre-existing portions of Highway 56.^[3] It also rendered the 5.2 km (3.2 mi) Highway 26 / Highway 834 concurrency obsolete.

Major intersections

Starting from the south end of Highway 56:

Rural/specialized municipality	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Wheatland County	​	0.0	0.0	Highway 1 (TCH) – Calgary, Medicine Hat	Hwy 56 southern terminus; continues as Range Road 201 to Crowfoot Ferry
		19.5	12.1	Highway 561 east	South end of Hwy 561 concurrency
	Hussar	22.7	14.1	Highway 561 west – Standard	North end of Hwy 561 concurrency
	​	39.4	24.5	Highway 564
	Dalum	52.4	32.6	Highway 569
Town of Drumheller		64.7	40.2	Highway 10 east (Hoodoo Trail) – East Coulee	South end of Hwy 10 concurrency
		66.1	41.1	Highway 10X south – Wayne	Rosedale
		72.8	45.2	Highway 10 ends Highway 9 west / 5 Street SE – Calgary	North end of Hwy 10 concurrency; south end of Hwy 9 concurrency
		73.7	45.8	Highway 575 west (South Dinosaur Trail) / 2 Street SW – Nacmine
		74.3	46.2	Crosses Red Deer River
		74.8	46.5	Highway 838 west (North Dinosaur Trail) – Royal Tyrrell Museum
		75.1	46.7	Highway 576 east
Starland County	Munson	85.4	53.1	Township Road 302
	​	95.0	59.0	Highway 9 east – Hanna, Saskatoon Highway 27 west – Morrin, Three Hills	North end of Hwy 9 concurrency
		117.7	73.1	Highway 585 – Rumsey, Trochu
County of Stettler No. 6	​	130.6	81.2	Highway 589 east – Byemoor, Endiang
	Big Valley	137.0	85.1	Highway 590 west – Innisfail
		138.6	86.1	UAR 55 west
	​	156.4	97.2	Highway 594 west
Town of Stettler		170.0	105.6	Highway 12 – Lacombe, Consort
County of Stettler No. 6	​	180.8	112.3	Highway 601 – White Sands, Red Willow
↑ / ↓	​	200.2	124.4	Highway 53 – Bashaw, Donalda, Forestburg
Camrose County	Meeting Creek	212.4	132.0	UAR 210 east
	​	223.8	139.1	Highway 609 west – Edberg, Ferintosh	South end of Hwy 609 concurrency
		224.1	139.2	Crosses Battle River
		227.0	141.1	Highway 609 east – Rosalind	North end of Hwy 609 concurrency
		245.6	152.6	Highway 13 – Camrose, Provost	Former Hwy 56 northern terminus; formerly Hwy 834
		249.8	155.2	Highway 26 – Camrose, Viking	Hwy 56 northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. "Highway 56 in Alberta" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
2. "2016 Provincial Highway 1-216 Progress Chart" (PDF). Alberta Transportation. March 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
3. "Renumbering the Portion of Highway 834 Between Highways 13 and 26 To Highway 56" (PDF). Camrose County Outlook. Camrose County: 7. October 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2024. Effective mid-September the 2.5 mile portion of Highway 834 between Highways 13 and 26 was renumbered to Highway 56.