in southern Alberta, the alignment of Highway 4 is based on an existing railway. In the late 1890s, a railway was constructed between Lethbridge and Coutts by the Alberta Railway and Coal Company, who then extended the route to Great Falls, Montana. A spur to the southwest from Stirling to Cardston was also built. A trail developed paralleling the railroad, eventually evolving by 1912 into a dirt road known as part of the Sunshine Trail. The route was identified as a key corridor connecting Alberta to major cities of the United States for the purposes of trade and tourist travel. Lethbridge mayor W. D. L. Hardie supported proposals for the road to be gravelled, claiming it would be a relatively easy and affordable process and could set precedent for other gravelling projects in the province. In tandem with the Red Trail (now Highway 3) and Highway 1 (now Highway 2), Highway 4 comprised the north portion of the all-weather Sunshine Trail that would eventually run from Los Angeles to Peace River. The alignment of the highway has changed slightly from its inception to the present day. From its northern end in Lethbridge, it originally followed the railway line on a southeasterly heading before turning due east along Township Road 54 at New Dayton. It then followed present-day Highway 36 south through Warner, before turning back east toward the railway north of Milk River, before following it through the town and into Coutts. In 1938, Lethbridge City council lobbied to the provincial government for the entire route to paved. Along with other Lethbridge officials, they hoped the highway would be given priority over other projects in the area as the Coutts border crossing was far and away the busiest in Alberta, carrying more traffic than all the others combined. Work began in 1945 to reconstruct and straighten out the existing alignment of the highway that consisted of the numerous aforementioned 90° turns. The first section to be reconstructed and paved was from Coutts to Craddock. Work continued on the northern half of the highway and was mostly completed by 1947, with the official opening of the new Lethbridge–Coutts highway held in May 1948 in Coutts. The road was designated as Highway 4 by the following decade. Later years Prior to the construction of 43 Street, the former alignment of Highway 4 in Lethbridge was along Mayor Magrath Drive, cosigned with Highway