Complete Calgary ring road on horizon after contracts awarded

Contracts for two of the final three pieces of the Calgary ring road have been awarded and the total project of 101 kilometres should be complete by the fall of 2022, the province announced Tuesday.

"Thousands of Albertans will be working on this project in the coming years building a transportation project that will carry millions of Calgarians and Albertans to and from their destinations," Minister of Transportation Brian Mason said.

• Work on Calgary ring road's $1B final leg to start in 2019

"It won't be long before the ring road is part ofCalgarians' daily lives."

Tuesday's announcement is about contracts finalized for the$89 million Bow River bridge twinningand the north segment between the Old Banff Coach Road and the Trans-Canada, which will cost$463 million. Together, the province says these elements of the West Ring Road Construction will create about 2,700 jobs.

Mason said the final piece of the puzzle to the south about four kilometres between the Old Banff Banff Coach Road and Highway 8should have contracts attached in coming months.

Coun. Ward Sutherland says there's finally an end in the sight to this project, which has been talked about for almost 50 years.

"This completes the important infrastructure for the entire city. Many years ago when we were working with the government to move the project forward, it was only a C ring," Sutherland said.

"Now we are going to a full ring road that we need in the city. More than 80 per cent of all goods are transported around ring roads."