Southeast ring road shifts into gear

Alberta's first highway project built in partnership with a private company officially opened Monday, completing the southeast leg of the Edmonton ring road.

A semi-trailer drove through a banner Monday morning, opening the 11-kilometre stretch of Anthony Henday Drive, from the Queen Elizabeth II Highway to Highway 16.

The new stretch of freeway features 20 bridges, five interchanges and no traffic lights. For most people inan increasingly congested city,it will mean an easier commute to the airport or to Calgary.

"Going to [the] airport anywhere coming from the east to the west, it's going to be great," said Crystal Dmetruik, a construction worker on the project, listing thebenefits of the new road.

"Sherwood Park to Lessard Road [in] half an hour. To go east anywhere, it's going to really take a lot of load off the Whitemud in the morning."

With two more phases to build, Edmonton's ring road is designed to eventually circle the city.

The southeast stretch of Anthony Henday Drive cost $493 million and was built on time and on budget, something the province said could not have happened without a so-called P3 agreement.

The provincial and federal governments paid a private consortium to build, operate and maintain the road for the next 30 years.

"Anthony Henday Drive southeast is an excellent example of how P3 projects can build critical infrastructure projects on time, on budget and at a significantly lower risk for taxpayers," said Alina Osorio, CEO of Macquarie Essential Assets Partnership, the company that put up the money for the road and will maintain it for the next 30 years.

Premier Ed Stelmach said the success of this P3 highway means it's a likely model for future projects in Alberta.

Construction is already underway on Calgary's P3 northeast ring road, expected to open in 2009, and the north leg of Edmonton's Anthony Henday Drive connecting the Yellowhead Trail to the Manning freeway is slated to start next fall.

The southeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive will be fully open to the public Tuesday by 9 a.m.