In general, these are original sections of Highway 2, such as the southern portion of Macleod Trail in Calgary.

They passed through communities before limited-access freeways were built to shorten driving distance, accommodate heavier volumes and to bypass city traffic.

Macleod Trail continues north into downtown Calgary but does not carry a highway designation.

The highway continues north and passes through the town of Penhold before entering the city of Red Deer along Taylor Drive.

[7] Highway 2A was established along most of the original alignment, starting at 16 Avenue NE (Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 1) in the south and continuing north along Barlow Trail for 10 km (6.2 mi), past the Calgary International Airport, to 112 Avenue NE (later renamed Country Hills Boulevard), where it travelled west for 1 km (0.62 mi) to its interchange with Deerfoot Trail.

[9] The Highway 2A designation was phased out in the mid-1980s[10] and the Barlow Trail between 48 Avenue NE (just north of McKnight Boulevard) and the main terminal access was closed to allow for additional runway construction.

[11] The existing section of Highway 2A used extend from High River along 10 Street SE, through the hamlet of Cayley, and intersect Highway 2 at the locality of Connemara, located 8 km (5 mi) north of the town of Nanton along the Foothills County / Willow Creek M.D.

The segment was located only 1.6 km (0.99 mi) west of Highway 2 and was lightly traveled, as such it was dropped by the province in 1997.