Navigating Range and Township Roads

Explaining the whole Alberta Township Grid System, also known as the Rural Road System, can be very complex so I'm just going to  give a general explanation of how the system works in my work area which is lake country west of Stony Plain.

1. Meridians -  Stony Plain's main defining road running north to south is 48 street, but it is also known as the 5th Meridian. You may have heard the term west of the fifth meridian, this because everything is numbered east to west from the fifth meridian until you reach the Sixth Meridian.

2. Range Roads or Rge. Rd.'s run north to south like the main meridian road or city Streets. Rge Rds. are numbered consecutively and run every mile from the 5th Meridian Starting at Range Road 1.

3. Township Roads or TWP.RD's  - run east to west in numerical order like city avenues  TWP. Rds run every 2 miles and and are numbered consecutively.  They work like our avenues in our city grid

So if you see an addres, for example, Range Road 1, Township road 524. You instantly know the Rge. Rd. is one mile off the 5th meridian.  The 525 means, the first 5 represents it is in the 5th Meridan and the 20 represents the road number.

So in summation the province is surveyed in blocks 1 mile by 2 miles or 2 sections per block, note a section of land is one square mile.

Now this all works until you get to an area where they measured out the roads, but never built them. There is also areas that have to be adjusted to the curvature of the land, these are called correction line roads. The good news is, generally in my area it is wonderfully marked and the roads are clearly marked.

Good luck naviagating and if you have any questions locating anything, call me directly at 780-991-5107.

Wayne William Heine