Highway 22 begins as a two-lane rural highway in the Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9 near Lundbreck Falls at Highway 3, the Crowsnest Highway. It proceeds north across increasingly flatter terrain of the foothills, parallel to the Oldman River, and then crosses it before entering the Municipal District of Ranchland No. 66. The highway winds to the east of the Black Heritage Rangeland Natural Area, intersecting Highway 520 which branches east to meet Highway 2 at Claresholm. Highway 22 continues north through scenic terrain to the Chain Lakes Reservoir, from which Highway 533 splits east to meet Highway 2 at Nanton. 22 continues north through Longview, Black Diamond, Turner Valley, and Millarville. The highway then jogs west at Highway 22X. Approximately later, the road turns north again and passes through Bragg Creek where Highway 22X ends. Highway 22 continues north past the Trans-Canada Highway west of Calgary, north through the Town of Cochrane, the Hamlet of Cochrane Lake, and the Village of Cremona to Highway 27. The highway continues in a generally northward direction, passing through Sundre, Caroline, Rocky Mountain House and Drayton Valley until it intersects Highway 16. After a jog to the west, it continues north to cross Highway 43 in Mayerthorpe, ending north of the town at Highway 18. Albert'a Cowboy Trail was also ranked as one of Canada's top 13 road trips by Must Do Canada in 2020.
History
The original alignment of Highway 22 started at Highway 2 south of Calgary and travelled west to Priddis, where it turned south to Turner Valley and terminated at Highway 7 in Black Diamond. In the 1970s, the province of Alberta began upgrading a series of roads to form a north-south, all-weather highway west of Highway 2. Beginning in, the road connecting the Trans-Canada Highway and Cochrane was designated as part of Highway 22. In, the numbered secondary highway system appeared, with the road between Cochrane and Highway 27 being designated as Highway 922 while the road between Priddis and Bragg Creek was briefly designated as Highway 553, becoming Highway 922 in 1975. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, Highway 922 was extended from Highway 3 in the south to Highway 57 near Drayton Valley in the north. Coinciding with Highway 922 being paved in, Highway 22 was extended from Cochrane to Cremona, while the following year it replaced Highway 922 between the Trans-Canada Highway and Priddis; as part of the project, the section between Priddis and Macleod Trail was renumbered as Highway 22X. In, all remaining gravel sections of Highway 922 were reclassified as Highway 22, along with a section of Highway 7 between Black Diamond and Longview, a section of Highway 57 between Drayton Valley and Entwistle and Highway 755 between Highway 16 and Mayerthorpe. Throughout the 1980s, Highway 22 was paved, with all but a small section near Chain Lakes Provincial Park being completed by 1990. In 2014, a new $52 million bridge across the North Saskatchewan River near Drayton Valley was completed, replacing the original bridge which was constructed in 1957.
Future
Alberta Transportation retained Tetra Tech EBA to complete a study in the feasibility of new passing lanes over a distance of Highway 22 between Highways 3 and 543. The study was published in August 2011 and determined that passing lanes are justified at several locations, but Alberta Transportation currently has no plans to proceed with the project. In April 2017, Alberta Transportation announced plans for a new interchange at Highway 1A in Cochrane, with the selection of an engineering consultant taking place during the summer and the anticipated start of construction beginning as early as Fall 2019. As part of a separate project, Alberta Transportation completed a long-term study to twin Highway 22 between Cochrane and Highway 8, including replacing the cloverleaf interchange at Highway 1; no timeline has been set for construction.
