Calgary Ring Road full completion pushed to 2024 two years behind initial target

The Calgary Ring Road is projected to betwo years behind the original completion date.

In a news release issued Friday, the province announced it had awarded the final contract for the south portion of the West Calgary Ring Road the last contract to be issued and that it will be completed by 2024.

Back in March 2019 and under the previous government, Alberta's former transportation minister, Brian Mason, had announced the full road would open by fall2022.

The release says there were delays due to relocating anEnmax utility line, which required Alberta Utilities Commission approval, as well as considerations for the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a phone interview with CBCNews, Transportation Minister Ric McIversaidthere's been some discussion over where the power lines should go, including somedisagreements by citizens on where they should be placed.

"At the end of the day, we'll get it done and Calgary will have a complete ring road," McIver said.

The province says the final contract for the south portion of theroad is for $277 million and construction for that portion will start this summer.

The full ring road will span 101 kilometresaround Calgary.

The new section of the Bow River pathway is now open, it says in the release, and work continues on the Trans-Canada Highway and Valley Ridge Boulevard N.W.interchange.

The southwest portion of the ring road, which will connect Highway 8 and Macleod Trail, is expected to be completed in 2021. A portion of the road between Glenmore Trail and Fish Creek Boulevard is expected to open to traffic this fall.