ALBERTA HIGHWAY 63

'Highway 63' is the main highway from a point on Highway 28 about 6 km (4 miles) southwest of the hamlet of Radway to Fort McMurray and further north to Fort Mackay, both of which are part of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Much of the highway passes through boreal forest, although aspen parkland and farmland is predominant up to Lac La Biche.
The highway sees an increasingly high volume of traffic due to the booming oilsands industry in northern Wood Buffalo, causing potentially serious transportation-related problems. Not surprisingly, many residents in Fort McMurray and others who frequently use the highway view this as an issue that needs to be dealt with in a timely manner. Trucks carrying large oilsands mining equipment can delay the traffic greatly, since they can be large enough to occupy two traffic lanes. Most of Highway 63 is two-lane undivided highway, with the exception of just a few kilometres south of and through Fort McMurray to roughly 25 km (15 miles) north of Fort McMurray. It is also the only all-weather road leading out of Fort McMurray, which makes it a critical link.
After years of both public and political pressure, the provincial government has announced in February 2006 ^[1] that it would begin twinning the entire two-lane portion of the highway to a four-lane divided standard from Atmore to just south of Fort McMurray. The twinning will begin in 2006 and take at least five years to complete. It is the one of the deadliest highways in Alberta, and has claimed several lives.^[2]

Contents

Mile by mile

References

Mile by mile

This table does not include the section of Highway 63 between Highway 28 and Atmore.

km	Description	Coordinates
0 km	Begins at Atmore on Highway 55 and branches north
39 km	Passes by Breynat
45 km	Passes by Wandering River
141 km	Passes by Mariana Lake
225 km	Highway 881 branches to the east
241 km	Reaches Fort McMurray, where Highway 69 branches to the east
310 km	The Fort McKay Access Road branchess off to the north.
340 km	Terminates at an oil sands facility about 90 km north of downtown Fort McMurray

References

1. Alberta Government announcement
2. Government of Alberta - Infrastructure project