96 Avenue N.E. Extension Opens

The City of Calgary opened the 96 Avenue N.E. extension this morning, led by Calgary Transit’s Route 300 bus.

 

96 Avenue N.E. is a key east - west transportation corridor within the city of Calgary. The roadway extension provides access from north central Calgary to Deerfoot Trail through to Airport Trail. This roadway extension allows the Calgary Transit Route 300 to use 96 Avenue N.E. to access the Calgary International Airport terminal and connect with downtown.

 

The six-lane roadway is operational between Harvest Hills Boulevard and Deerfoot Trail except for the section that goes over Nose Creek and the CP Railway tracks. At that point, vehicles are using an interim two-way traffic set-up along the three southerly lanes until remedial work is completed on the westbound bridge deck over Nose Creek.

 

“The opening of the 96 Avenue N.E. extension is good news for residents in north-central Calgary who now have another way to access Deerfoot Trail,” said Travis Gaede, Senior Transportation Engineer with The City’s Transportation department. “This new connection also provides area residents with a significantly shorter trip to the airport.”

 

The project includes construction of a six-lane extension of 96 Avenue N.E. from Harvest Hills Link east to Deerfoot Trail, construction of four bridge structures over the CP Railway tracks and Nose Creek and improvements to the Airport Trail and Deerfoot Trail interchange to allow for traffic movement in all directions.

 

Work was halted in 2012 after project quality assurance investigations found evidence of deficiencies on all of the bridge decks under construction at that time. Further investigation revealed that three of the bridge decks could be made operational with deck finishing work outlined in the construction contract. These tasks were completed this summer.

 

Additional repair work is required on the westbound bridge deck over Nose Creek to ensure the bridge deck meets The City’s construction and durability requirements.

 

The entire roadway (both eastbound and westbound lanes) will open once the remedial work on the fourth bridge deck has been completed, anticipated for late 2013 or early 2014.

 

The other elements of the project include the construction of a regional pathway from the Harvest Hills community east and across Deerfoot Trail, construction of a noise barrier on the north side of 96 Avenue N.E. from Harvest Gold Manor to 6 Street N.E., and construction of a stormwater connection from 96 Avenue N.E. to the Aurora Business Park wetland.

 

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Onward/The City is strategically building up its road network to make travelling easier while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.