Traffic levels significantly increase as Highway 63 bends through Fort McMurray, crossing the Athabasca River before connecting the city to the Syncrude and Suncor Energy plants further north.

Construction north of Atmore on the first road connecting Fort McMurray to the rest of the Alberta highway system began in 1962.

Upgrades in the following decades saw the two-lane highway widened and improved with the addition of passing lanes, and extended to its present terminus northeast of Fort McKay.

In 2006, Alberta committed to twinning[c] the 240-kilometre (150 mi) stretch from Grassland to Fort McMurray, but progress was initially slower than anticipated due to muskeg and wildlife restrictions.

[3] Highway 63 continues through the aspen parkland of Athabasca County on a northeasterly heading, briefly following the northwest shore of Charron Lake before turning due north into the increasingly wooded terrain of northern Alberta.

[4] In Fort McMurray, Highway 63 continues as a divided expressway along the east bank of the Hangingstone River through the communities of Gregoire and Beacon Hill.

It then adopts the name Memorial Drive, curving slightly east and then back north before descending to cross the river after a diamond interchange at Prairie Loop Boulevard.

[4] Climbing from the Hangingstone River, a second diamond interchange at Hospital Street follows as the four lanes of Highway 63 bypass downtown Fort McMurray to the west, separating it from the neighbourhoods of Hilltop Estates and Aspen Gardens.

The Grant MacEwan Bridge is the southernmost crossing; it carries two lanes of eastbound traffic exiting from Highway 63 to Franklin Avenue and C.A.

On the river's east bank, the two lanes from the MacEwan descend into a short tunnel under the northern bridges to reach Franklin Avenue.

[5] West of the river, Highway 63 and its brief collector-distributor system curve north to follow the Athabasca's west bank toward Fort McKay, passing the neighbourhood of Ross Haven en route to trumpet interchanges each at Thickwood Boulveard, Confederation Way, and Parsons Access Road, the last of which essentially marks the northern limit of Fort McMurray's residential development.

The divided highway continues north alongside the river through boreal forest to Tar Island where it bends slightly northwest.

[18] Days later, hundreds met at MacDonald Island Park in Fort McMurray to protest the slow pace of improvements to the highway.

[9] Shift work is common in the Fort McMurray and oil sands areas, and residents have suggested that such commuters are more likely to be travelling at unsafe speeds or under the influence of alcohol.

[25] Industry leaders in oil and gas are among the members of the group whose website offers driving tips and features an interactive map of the two highways, describing collisions that have occurred along both routes.

[1] The completed A&GW Railway made Edmonton trips more feasible, but the population of McMurray remained under 1,000 in the 1930s so a highway to the remote outpost through heavy muskeg and forest had not yet been deemed worthwhile.

[1][29] At this time, the only major road stretching into northern Alberta beyond Lac La Biche was Highway 2, which ran from Edmonton to Athabasca before turning west to Lesser Slave Lake and the Peace Country.

[30] By 1940, a portion of present-day Highway 63 from Boyle to Atmore had been constructed as an unsigned gravel road that formed part of the route from Athabasca to the western shore of Lac La Biche.

[36] In that year, $2.3 million of funding was approved for paving of the highway north of Wandering River, which resulted in an all-weather route from Edmonton to Fort McMurray.

[38] Paving work was completed by year's end, but a 1975 budget cut prevented widening of the highway, despite its high number of accidents.

[40]: 173  In this year, work also began on a $2.57 million project at the south end of Fort McMurray in the vicinity of Hangingstone; it added a stretch of divided highway, southbound climbing lane, and grade levelling.

[40]: 175  The 450-metre (1,480 ft) structure was initially dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" due to the lack of development on the river's east bank near Fort McKay.

[42] After years of both public and political pressure, the provincial government announced in February 2006 that it would begin twinning the entire two-lane portion of the highway from Atmore to the south end of Fort McMurray, the stretch they deemed to be the most dangerous.

[47] It was the only service station between Wandering River and Fort McMurray, but Alberta Transportation had no other options due to the proximity of the lake and utilities.

[48] 46 km (29 mi) of tree clearing had been completed by February 2010, but further work was delayed until July to protect threatened caribou populations.

[54] Premier Alison Redford appointed Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Mike Allen as the special advisor to the Minister of Transportation for Highway 63 on May 22, 2012.

On November 5, 36 km (22 mi) of twinned highway opened north of Wandering River and east of McMillan Lake, nine months ahead of schedule.

[46] In early May 2016, a wildfire encroached on Fort McMurray and surrounding areas, causing a complete evacuation of nearly 90,000 people and over $3 billion in damage.

[64] In June, police and firefighters welcomed residents back into Fort McMurray by waving from the King Street overpass as drivers entered the city on Highway 63.

[64] The road would require provincial funding and the feasibility of its construction was assessed by Notley's government as part of a review of the wildfire evacuation process.