Crowchild Trail's south terminus is located at North Glenmore Park as a minor arterial road. Exiting northbound from the park the road intersects several residential streets within the communities of Lakeview and North Glenmore Park, and several residential dwellings are located on the Trail itself. Continuing northward, its first major intersection is with Glenmore Trail at an interchange that was built in 1981, which is the point at which Crowchild becomes an freeway. After an interchange was completed at 50th Avenue SW in 2003, Crowchild Trail became a true freeway from Glenmore Trail to Kensington Road NW, with overpasses at Flanders Avenue SW, 33 Avenue SW and 17 Avenue SW and interchange intersections with 10 Avenue SW, Bow Trail and Memorial Drive. The speed limit on the freeway sections are. Traffic slows immediately north of the Bow River, with signal-controlled intersections at Kensington Road NW and 5th Avenue NW, and heavy use by football fans and transit users at McMahon Stadium and students of the University of Calgary. After 24 Avenue NW the road veers northwest, and once again becomes an uninterrupted freeway until the Stoney Trailring road. A cloverleaf interchange was completed in 2012 at Stoney Trail, rendering Crowchild Trail a freeway from 24 Avenue through to the city limits at Twelve Mile Coulee Road. It continues as Bow Valley Trail, eventually reaching Cochrane and Canmore.
History
Part of this road was the Morley Trail when it was an actual trail. It was first paved in the 1930s. It then became the main highway to Banff and was the home of Eamon's Bungalow Camp and service station. When the Trans-Canada Highway was created it dropped in importance. The road was originally signed as 24 Street SW from North Glenmore Park to the Bow River, 24th Street NW from the Bow River to the intersection with 16 Avenue NW, and Highway 1A from 16 Avenue NW to the city limits. In March 1971, it was renamed Crowchild Trail in honour of David Crowchild, Chief of the Tsuu T'ina Nation from 1946 to 1953.
Future
In the spring of 2017, the City of Calgary approved the recommendations of the Crowchild Trail Study which addressed the congestion and design issues between 17 Avenue SW and 24 Avenue NW. Short-term improvements include adding additional lanes across the Bow River and modifying the Bow Trail and Memorial Drive interchanges; construction commenced in fall 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in fall 2019, since then, the completion date has been pushed back to fall 2020. Medium-term improvements include new interchanges at Kensington Road, 5 Avenue NW, and 24 Avenue NW, as well as replacement of the existing University Drive and 16 Avenue NW interchanges. Once the medium-term recommendations would be implemented, the remaining traffic signals would be removed and Crowchild Trail would be a freeway between Glenmore Trail and 12 Mile Coulee Road.
Major intersections
From south to north, the following intersections are observed along Crowchild Trail.
