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Road

The Province of Alberta is covered by an extensive network of primary and secondary highways. Primary highways are multi-lane thoroughfares that may or may not be divided by a median. They are marked on maps with thick lines and are indexed by shields that denote the highway number. The maximum speed on primary highways is 110kph (68mph). Single-lane secondary highways exist outside highly populated areas and have a maximum speed of 90kph (56mph). Traffic drives on the right. The minimum driving age in Alberta is 16 years. Proof of insurance is compulsory and foreign drivers must possess a licence from their country of origin. The maximum legal alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.08%. Seatbelts must be worn at all times.

The Alberta Motor Association (AMA; tel: (403) 240 5300; web site: www.ama.ab.ca) provides emergency road service as well as a variety of other automobile-related services. The AMA is affiliated with both the Canadian Automobile Association and the American Automobile Association, for breakdown service in the rest of Canada and the United States.

Emergency breakdown service(s):
AMA (403) 246 0606

Routes to the city:
The Trans-Canada highway, Highway 1, becomes 16th Avenue as it passes through Calgary to the north of the city centre, running east-west. It connects with Banff, Kamloops and Vancouver to the west and Medicine Hat and Regina to the East. Highway 2 runs through the city centre, where it becomes Macleod Trail, connecting with Lethbridge to the south and Edmonton to the north.
Driving times to Calgary: from Edmonton - 3 hours; Regina - 7 hours 45 minutes; Vancouver - 11 hours 30 minutes.

Coach services:
Calgary is linked by bus to all major destinations in western Canada, as well as many in the western United States, such as Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City. The Greyhound Canada Terminal (tel: (403) 265 9111), 850 16th Street Southwest, is the hub for all basic intercity bus services, both national and international. Facilities include a restaurant, bathrooms, storage lockers and a games room.
Red Arrow Motor Coach
(tel: (403) 531 0350) operates executive-style coach services to Red Deer, Edmonton and Fort McMurray. The service includes executive seats, snacks and refreshments, laptop plug-ins, mobile phones, newspapers, and on-board movies. Coaches depart from the Fording Coal Building, 205 Ninth Avenue East, and the Quality Airport Inn (must have pre-paid reservation), 4804 Edmonton Trail Northeast.



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