Construction on over $1B project to complete last leg of Calgary ring road scheduled for 2019
By Jillian Morgan
Construction RoadsCALGARY—The west leg of Calgary’s ring road will undergo construction in 2019, signalling the end of a decades-long plan to complete a 101-kilometre freeway around the city.
Premier Rachel Notley and Minister of Transportation Brian Mason announced the infrastructure project on Thursday.
The NDP government would not give a dollar figure for the road, but Mason said it would be “somewhat north of a billion dollars.”
Construction of the West Calgary Ring Road will be divided into three segments, each contracted separately to “ensure more companies are in a position to bid,” Mason said.
Construction on the West Calgary Ring Road is scheduled to begin in 2019, completing the circle around Calgary. It will help alleviate traffic congestion and provide 101 kms of free-flow travel around the city: https://t.co/7a2K2rOjkz #abroads #yyc pic.twitter.com/S3lRkcB5Ue
— Alberta Government (@YourAlberta) July 5, 2018
Segments include:
- North: About three kilometres of six- and eight-lane divided freeway between Highway 1 and Old Banff Coach Road and reconstruction of about five kilometres of Highway 1. This segment includes 18 bridges, two interchanges (Highway 1 and Valley Ridge Boulevard) and one flyover (1 Avenue Southwest).
- South: About four kilometres of six- and eight-lane divided freeway between Old Banff Coach Road and Highway 8, with seven bridges and four interchanges (Old Banff Coach Road, Bow Trail, 17 Avenue SW and Highway 8).
- Twinning the Bow River Bridge on the northwest segment of the ring road and widening about two kilometres of Northwest Stoney Trail from Crowchild Trail to Scenic Acres Link.
The province will use a design-bid-build process, and Alberta Transportation will cover operations costs for the ring road. Construction is expected to create up to 2,600 jobs.
The West Calgary Ring Road is expected to open to traffic in 2022, one year after the completion of the southwest leg. Mason said that portion of the road, currently under construction, is on time and on budget.
Alberta allotted $2.1 billion over five years for the ring roads in Edmonton and Calgary.
Watch out for an in-depth look at Calgary’s ring road project in the upcoming August issue of On-Site
