Feds announce $50M toward Airport Trail expansion project in Calgary

The federal government will contribute $50 million toward the expansion of Airport Trail,Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday in Calgary.

The project will see a new segment of roadbuilt between 36thStreet and 60th Street N.E., with an intersection at MetisTrail. It will also include the first stage of an interchange at 19thStreet and Airport Trail, along with a new, southbound-to-westbound ramp atStoney Trailand Airport Trail.

It's the second phase of the Airport Trail expansion project, following the opening of the 620-metre, six-lane Airport Trail tunnel in 2014.

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Construction isexpected to begin this year and be complete in the spring of 2022, said provincial Infrastructure Minister Brian Mason.

Funding for the $145-million project is being split between the federal, provincial and municipal governments.Along with$50 million from the federal government's National Trade CorridorFund,the province has earmarked $27.7 million and the city and Calgary AirportAuthority are providingthe balance.

"Building the airport tunnel was never meant to be the end of this;the point of that tunnel was to create a new, east-west transportation link in this city ... linking the ring road at Stoney Trail withDeerfoot Trail and beyond," said Calgary Mayor NaheedNenshi.

"With phase two, we realize that ultimate goal, of connecting Stoney [Trail] and Deerfoot in the north side of the city," he added.

"It will help thousands of employees get to the airport more easily, reducing congestion, [and] making links for public transit much easier as well.This is about transit, it's about movement of goods, it's about creating new communities and new commercial and industrial areas in northeast Calgary."

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