In the 1970s, Highway 16 was a four-lane, divided highway that passed along the northern edge of Stony Plain, through Spruce Grove, and passed through Edmonton along Stony Plain Road, Mayfield Road, 111 Avenue, and 118 Avenue. The need for a free-flow bypass was identified, however interchanges within Spruce Grove were deemed impractical. A bypass was built north of the existing highway. Construction began of a two-lane highway west out of Edmonton along 118 Avenue, with sections opening throughout the early 1980s until it reached Highway 16, approximately east of Highway 43. Highway 16 was redesignated to follow Stony Plain Road, 170 Street, and Yellowhead Trail through Edmonton. By 1988, Highway 16X was twinned and transitioned to being the preferred western entrance into Edmonton, while the Stony Plain Road section of Highway 16 was more focused on commuter traffic. In 1990, in conjunction with Highway 16 assuming the Trans-Canada Highwayroute shield, Highway 16X also assumed the shield, an exception to the general practice in Alberta where suffixed routes are signed only with a standard Alberta highway shield. For consistency, the main business and commuter route was renumbered to Highway 16A in 1997 and renamed as the Parkland Highway while the main tourist route became Highway 16.
Future
Highway 16X is the designation of three proposed bypasses around Hinton, Edson, and Lloydminster. The province of Alberta has determined alignments for all three bypasses, coincidentally all would be on the south side of the present Highway 16 alignments. The Hinton bypass, temporarily designated as 16X:02, would run between Highway 40 south and Drinnan Way, bypassing a section of Highway 16. The bypass of Edson, designated as 16X:06, would run between 75 Street and the Edson Golf Course, bypassing of Highway 16. The Lloydminster bypass, designated as 16X:30, the only one presently being studied by Alberta Transportation, would start near the hamlet of Blackfoot and intersect Highway 17 at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, approximately south of the present Highway 16/17 intersection. East of Highway 17, the bypass would be under Saskatchewanprovincial jurisdiction., a planning study for the bypass had not been published by Saskatchewan. Funding for the Alberta portion was not included in the 2016-2019 construction plan.
