What is Fort Road?

On November 26, 2002, Edmonton City Council approved the "Fort Road Old Town Master Plan”. ¹ The goal was to redevelop and revitalize the old town area from the intersection of Fort Road and 66 street until the intersection of 129 Ave and Fort Road. The corridor – spanning over half a kilometre – was proposed to have pedestrian oriented commercial spaces (north side), high density residential buildings (south side), and parks and open space (south side). Also promised was the widening of the existing Fort Road to 6 lanes in order to accommodate on street parking for patrons of the commercial spaces.

What has been completed to date (August 2019) has mainly been the widening of Fort Road, the half-completed construction of “Station Pointe Village” in the Station Pointe area ², and the almost completed construction of Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage ³.

Unfortunately, Bob's Sausage House (a former meat shop) was destroyed in the Fort Road old town area on August 6, 2019. ⁴

What does this website hope to achieve?

The goal of this website, “Fort Road, Edmonton”, is to help foster a greater sense of community within the Fort Road old town area and also the other sections that connect with the Yellowhead, Manning Drive, and Wayne Gretzky Drive. We would like to offer a glimpse into the diverse, and vibrant community of Fort Road through storytelling.

There are many businesses and individuals in the Fort Road area who have a story to tell. Our mission is to capture this through writing and photography.

Interested in telling your story, or have an idea for a story? Contact us (click here)!

Exactly how long is Fort Road?

According to Google Maps, Fort Road is approximately an 18 kilometre stretch of road that connects with the freeways: Wayne Gretzky Drive, Manning Drive, and Yellowhead trail.

Its major junctions include: 82 Street, 118 Avenue, Wayne Gretzky Drive, Yellowhead Trail, 66 Street, 137 Avenue, Manning Drive.

It was formerly recognized as Fort Trail. ⁵

The Fort Road old town area (66 street intersection until the intersection of 129 Ave) is walkable in about 10 minutes.

A traffic camera view of Yellowhead trail and Fort Road can be found here.

What was Fort Road like in its earlier days?

Fort Road has a rich history in Edmonton. Formerly known as the “meat packing district”, it was home to many cornerstone businesses such as the Transit Hotel, and Canada Meat packers. It also once was the home to the North Edmonton Hospital and Drugstore.

Many pictures have been published by Jaron Williams on #LostYEG, and also by the city in the City of Edmonton Archives.

As an effort to maintain this rich history, the brick smokestack from the Canada Packers meat packing plant has been designated as a Municipal Historic Resource.