http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/809...-road-delayed/
No surprise here.
Opening of Calgary’s southeast ring road delayed
Commuters on Calgary’s congested southeast streets will have to wait a little longer to cruise the lanes of their portion of the ring road.
Alberta Transportation Minister Ric McIver told Metro exclusively Sunday that the three-year, $769-million construction project to extend Stoney Trail past Peigan Trail to Highway 22X won’t be completed in time for a planned Tuesday unveiling and it’s unclear when exactly it will be ready for free-flowing traffic.
“The contractor, at some point, will probably be better to answer that question,” McIver said when asked about a revised opening date.
“We’re hoping it will be no more than a week or two and perhaps less, depending upon what progress the contractor makes. Of course, outdoor construction is always somewhat weather-dependent.”
Indications last week were that the southeast ring road would open Tuesday, but McIver said his ministry is waiting on a safety audit report, while certain bridge approaches at Deerfoot Trail and Cranston Blvd. S.E. still require paving.
When completed, the project will add 25 kilometres of roadway across six lanes of divided highway. It features 27 bridges, nine interchanges and three flyovers (one road and two railway), along with 12 kilometres of roadway off Deerfoot Trail between Stoney Trail and the Highway 2A Junction.
McIver pledged no additional taxpayer costs as the project was green-lighted through a public-private-partnership. Contractor group Chinook Roads Partnership will, however, be slapped with an estimated $75,000 fine for every day the roadway remains closed past Oct. 1, he said.
Word of the delay was cause for frustration among area residents and Ward 12 Ald. Shane Keating, who said he was personally surprised to see many “extremely nice” weekends where few, if any, workers were present.
“I didn’t quite understand why they wouldn’t push as hard as they could all the time,” he said.
McIver said an early winter last year and delayed spring this year may have been factors in the delay.
“At this point, I think we’re cheering for the same thing the contractor is: For them to get finished, for them to get paid and for the traffic availability to be delivered to Albertans,” McIver said.
Shane Byciuk, president of the Cranston Community Association, said work only began on the access point in his neighbourhood about 10 days ago and has created headaches for residents attempting to head east out of the community.
“I looked at it and thought there’s no way it’s going to be done,” he said. “It’s frustrating, but not surprising.”
Byciuk added residents will fully expect the province to hold the contractor to the fines for being delayed.
A vote is scheduled among members of the Tsuu T’ina Nation next month that will determine whether they will allow the southwest portion of the ring road — the final leg of the project — to run through their land.
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