Alberta Highway 873

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 873, commonly referred to as Highway 873, is a highway in southern Alberta, Canada. It generally runs north-south from Range Road 162 near the Hamlet of Rainier, through the City of Brooks to Highway 550 in Village of Duchess.[2][3]

Highway 873
Route information
Maintained by Alberta Transportation City of Brooks
Length	57.4 km[1] (35.7 mi)
Major junctions
South end	Range Road 162 near Rainier
	Hwy 36 near Rainier Hwy 542 in Brooks Hwy 1 (TCH) in Brooks
North end	Hwy 550 in Duchess
Location
Specialized and rural municipalities	County of Newell
Major cities	Brooks
Villages	Duchess
Highway system
Provincial highways in Alberta ← Hwy 872 → Hwy 875

Route description

Highway 873 is a two-lane undivided highway in the County of Newell that begins as an east-west route at the intersection of Range Road 162 and Township Road 164, 1.6 km (1.0 mi) west of Rainer. It travels east to the intersection of Highway 36 where it becomes a gravel highway and continues east along the south end of Lake Newell to Highway 535, where it turns north and continues towards Kinbrook Island Provincial Park, where at the park entrance it once again becomes a paved highway.[2] Highway 873 continues north where it enters Brooks along 7 Street E where it follows a series of city streets, a short concurrency with Highway 542, and leaves Brooks along 2 Street W, the city's main commercial strip. It crosses the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) at the city's northern boundary and continues north past Highway 544 to Duchess where it ends at the intersection of Highway 550. The roadway continues north as Range Road 144.[2]

History

The section of Highway 873 between Brooks and Duchess has had multiple designations in its history. Along with Highway 550, the route was originally designated as part of Highway 2, which at the time was an east-west inter-provincial highway that ran through Calgary and Medicine Hat (the present-day Highway 2 was designated as Highway 1).[4] In 1941, Highway 2 was renumbered to Highway 1 to allow for continual numbering through Western Canada along the future Trans-Canada Highway, which was commissioned in 1949.[5] In the mid-1950s, the Trans-Canada Highway was realigned between Brooks and Bassano, resulting in the Duchess-Bassano section being decommissioned and the Brooks-Duchess section becoming part of Highway 36.[6] In the 1970s, Highway 36 north was realigned to align with the Highway 1/36 (south) junction located west of Brooks, resulting in the Brooks-Duchess section becoming Highway 873.[7]

Major intersections

From south to north:

Rural/specialized municipality	Location	km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
County of Newell	​	0.0	0.0	Range Road 162 / Township Road 164	Hwy 873 begins and travels east 50.368306°N 112.112417°W
	Rainier	1.6	0.99	Range Road 161	50.368333°N 112.089333°W
	​	6.8	4.2	Hwy 36 – Brooks, Taber	50.366389°N 112.019000°W
	​	18.2	11.3	Hwy 535 west – Tilley	Hwy 873 turns north 50.398306°N 111.888139°W
	​	23.4	14.5	PAR 103 west – Kinbrook Island Provincial Park	50.444694°N 111.883361°W
	​	31.1	19.3	Township Road 182 – Lake Newell Resort	50.513889°N 111.883361°W
City of Brooks		37.0	23.0	Sutherland Drive 7 Street E	Hwy 873 branches east onto Sutherland Drive Shortcut route continues north on 7 Street E (trucks prohibited)[8] 50.566611°N 111.883444°W
		38.1	23.7	Cassils Road (Hwy 542 east) – To Hwy 1	Hwy 873 branches west; Hwy 542 concurrency begins 50.572167°N 111.874083°W
		38.8	24.1	7 Street E / Lakewood Road	Shortcut route along 7 Street E (trucks prohibited)[8] 50.572111°N 111.883417°W
		39.7	24.7	2 Street W – City Centre Cassils Road (Hwy 542 west) – Cassils	Hwy 873 branches north; Hwy 542 concurrency ends 50.572083°N 111.897083°W
		41.8	26.0	Hwy 1 (TCH) – Calgary, Medicine Hat	Interchange 50.590694°N 111.897056°W
County of Newell	​	52.7	32.7	Hwy 544 – Patricia, Dinosaur Provincial Park	50.688444°N 111.897444°W
	Duchess	57.4	35.7	Hwy 550 west – Rosemary, Bassano Range Road 144	Hwy 873 ends 50.730639°N 111.897389°W
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Google (January 24, 2017). "Highway 873 in Alberta" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
2. Road Map (PDF) (Map). County of Newell. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
3. "Provincial Highways 500 - 986 Progress Chart" (PDF). Alberta Transportation. March 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
4. Department of Public Works (1939). Alberta Official Road Map (PDF) (Map). Government of Alberta. §§ B-2, C-2.
5. "Trans-Canada Highway Act". Department of Justice Canada. R.S.C. 1970, c. T-12. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
6. The H.M. Gousha Company (1956). Shell Map of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (Map). The Shell Oil Company. §§ E-13, F-13.
7. Travel Alberta (1978–79). Alberta Official Road Map (Map). Government of Alberta. § M-7.
8. Truck Routes (Map). City of Brooks. Retrieved January 24, 2017.