Alberta Highway 15

Highway 15 is a highway in the Edmonton Region of Alberta, connecting northeast Edmonton to the City of Fort Saskatchewan and communities within Lamont County.^[2] It serves as an alternative to Highway 16 that bypasses Elk Island National Park; the highway follows the route of a railway line completed in 1905 by the Canadian Northern Railway. In Edmonton, the route is named Manning Drive, a developing freeway named after Ernest Manning, the premier of Alberta from 1943 to 1968.^[3]

Highway 15 is designated as a core route of Canada's National Highway System, between Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216) and the intersection with Highway 28A within Edmonton and is part of the Northeast Alberta Trade Corridor.^[4][5]

Highway 15 begins at the intersection of Manning Drive and Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216), Edmonton's ring road.^[6] It proceeds northeast through a largely rural area, despite being within Edmonton city limits, to the southern terminus of Highway 28A. Within Sturgeon County, it intersects with the eastern terminus of Highway 37 and then turns southeast to cross the North Saskatchewan River, where it enters Fort Saskatchewan and intersects the northern terminus of Highway 21. From this junction, Highway 15 travels northeast again and then east, intersecting Highway 45, about 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of Bruderheim, and Highway 29 about 4 kilometres (2 mi) northwest of Lamont. It turns southeast and passes through Lamont, Chipman, and Mundare. At the outskirts of Mundare, it begins a 2.2-kilometre (1.4 mi) concurrency with Highway 855 before ending at Highway 16.^[2]

Highway 15 began the route connecting Edmonton with Elk Island National Park, which Highway 16 followed Fort Road and passed through Fort Saskatchewan and Lamont before continuing towards the Saskatchewan border.^[7] Beginning at Jasper Avenue in Downtown Edmonton, Highway 15 followed Rowland Road and the Dawson Bridge before taking 101 Avenue out of town, eventually rejoining Highway 16 about 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Chipman.^[7][8] In c. 1940, the Highway 15 & 16 designations were switched east of Edmonton and Highway 16 assumed the more direct easterly route.^[9] Cosigned with Highway 28, Highway 15 followed 100 Street and 101 Street to Norwood Boulevard, where Highway 28 followed 97 Street and Highway 15 continued east to 86 Street, turning north and following Fort Road in a northeasterly direction towards Fort Saskatchewan.^[10] It then travelled east and southeast, ending at Highway 16 south of Chipman.^[9] In the mid-1950s, Highway 15 was realigned to follow the railway in a southeasterly direction from Chipman to Mundare, relocating its eastern terminus with Highway 16.^[11] In 1972, Highway 15 was realigned and twinned north of 137 Avenue to present-day Highway 28A.^[12] At the time, most of the new roadway was in Sturgeon County and was not annexed into Edmonton until the early 1980s when it became Manning Drive.^[13]

When Highway 16 was moved to Yellowhead Trail in the 1980s, the Highway 15 designation was removed from city streets south the roadway and its new western terminus was at the Fort Road / Yellowhead Trail intersection.^[14] In 1988, Highway 15 was moved from Fort Road to 50 Street,^[15] creating a more direct route to Highway 16 and bypassing the Fort Road CN Rail underpass which had a clearance of 4.0 metres (13 ft 1 in),^[16] as opposed to the 50 Street CN Rail underpass which has a clearance of 5.5 metres (18 ft 1 in).^[17] In 2016, Anthony Henday Drive was completed^[18] and in subsequent years the official Highway 15 designation was removed from Manning Drive and 50 Street inside the ring road.^[6]

In 2017, the provincial government announced that the bridge spanning the North Saskatchewan River, connecting Sturgeon County to Fort Saskatchewan, would be twinned, as well a new pedestrian bridge underneath;^[19] A separate project also saw remaining 7-kilometre (4 mi) Fort Saskatchewan–Edmonton portion twinned.^[20] The twinning of the highway was completed in the fall of 2019,^[20] the new eastbound bridge opened in October 2022,^[21] and the pedestrian underslung bridge opened in July 2023.^[22]

• Transportation in Edmonton