News
Southwest Calgary Ring Road Fully Opened to Traffic
05.10.2021
This follows a nearly 5-year construction period and the earlier opening, one year ago, of the first section of roadway made possible by a close partnership with the leadership of the Nation. With the road now fully open to traffic, the 30-year concession period for Operations and Maintenance commences.
The Southwest Calgary Ring Road represents the penultimate section of the ring road around Calgary, a major city of Alberta, in Canada. The ring road aims to improve the safe and efficient movement of goods and people in and around the Calgary area, reducing overall traffic congestion and providing effective routes for commercial vehicles transporting goods. It is being built to accommodate traffic volumes projected for the next 30 years, which are estimated to be between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles per day on some sections (1).
This public-private partnership with the Province of Alberta represents a total investment of USD 1.4 billion. The Project comprised the design, build, financing, and operation of 31km of new six and eight-lane divided highway, 14 interchanges, 47 bridges, one road flyover, one railway crossing (flyover), one culvert set, one tunnel, as well as three river crossings.
The Project aims to contribute concretely to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
- SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth) as 2,000 jobs created during construction and additional jobs over the Operations and Maintenance phase.
- SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) as it will increase the quality of the transportation network around the city of Calgary.
- SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) as it will improve commute times and decrease congestion. In addition, the opening of the roadway provides improved access supporting the ongoing economic development program of the Tsuut’ina Nation.
The Southwest Calgary project follows Meridiam’s earlier on-time completion in 2016 and ongoing operation and maintenance of the Northeast Anthony Henday project in Edmonton.
Meridiam (32.5%), along with Kiewit (32.5%), Connor, Clark & Lunn (25%) and Ledcor (10%) are investors and partners in Mountain View Partners, the company that carries out the Project. The design-build construction consortium is a joint-venture between Kiewit, Graham and Ledcor and the Operation and Maintenance provider is Alberta Highway Services Ltd.