Southeast leg of Stoney Trail to open before afternoon rush
Posted Nov 22, 2013 7:40 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a project that’s been years in the making, two months overdue and will soon be ready for Calgary commuters.
Transportation Minister Ric McIver tells 660News the southeast section of Stoney Trail is done and will soon be ready for use.
The 25 kilometre six lane highway stretch boasts six new lanes of roadway, nine interchanges, 27 bridge structures and three flyovers at a cost of $769-million.
A southeast resident himself, McIver says it comes as a huge relief to see it complete.
“It’s an important piece of infrastructure and I think it will take some pressure off of Deerfoot Trail and that definitely needs some pressure taken off of it,” he said.
The leg was supposed to be ready October 1st.
As a result, fines of $70,000 a day has been levied against the contractor, the consortium Chinook Roads Partnership in the last 50 plus days.
They’re now facing a penalty of more than $3.6-million.
“The big question has always been when is it going to happen and the answer has always been when the contractor was able to bring the road into a condition suitable for traffic availability and it seems that has finally occurred,” says McIver.
“But the road is safe, it’s been tested for safety and as we said once it got to that point, we would make sure that the public got to the use the infrastructure that belongs to them,” he adds.
McIver will mark the grand opening at 10:15 Friday morning alongside Calgary Southeast MP and Federal Minister Jason Kenney.
It’s believed the road will then be ready for use by the afternoon rush.
