 Highway 97A's current alignment is not the same as its original route.Originally, when the '97A' designation was first given to the highway in 1953, replacing the Highway 5 designation, it went from a junction with Highway 97 at Swan Lake, where it starts today, northeast to Grindrod, and then it followed the modern-day Highway 97B to Salmon Arm, then following the Trans-Canada Highway west to Monte Creek, where Highway 97 merges onto the Highway 1.Between 1957 and 1962, Highway 97A had the designation of '97E'.