Airport Trail Tunnel Celebrates Opening
The City of Calgary today celebrated the completion of the Airport Trail tunnel with a public opening event to recognize the hard work, commitment and cooperation of many people who delivered this piece of vital infrastructure one time and on budget.
The six-lane Airport Trail tunnel under the new runway at the Calgary International Airport will officially open to traffic at 5:00 am on May 25.
“We have lots to celebrate today,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “The Airport Trail tunnel is a critical piece of infrastructure that will connect people, goods, and services locally, regionally, and globally. It serves as a vital east-west corridor for Calgary that will benefit all Calgarians. And, let’s not forget, this major project has come in on time and on budget.”
Councillor Jim Stevenson, whose Ward 3 encompasses the tunnel, is looking forward to the positive impact this project will have on the development of businesses and residential communities in north-central and northeast Calgary.
“The Airport Trail tunnel provides an alternate route to-and-from the airport and will serve as an important east-west connection on opening day. Ultimately, it will link Stony Trail East all the way to Centre Street between Deerfoot Trail and ultimately Stoney Trail.”
Other speakers at the Opening event were Dr. Neil Brown, MLA for Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill and Calgary Airport Authority Board Chair, David Swanson.
The City has worked closely with the Airport Authority during the construction of the tunnel and the Authority’s runway development project. This cooperation enabled The City to meet the critical milestone dates needed by the Airport Authority to continue its runway expansion program without delay.
Mac Logan, General Manager of The City’s Transportation Department, was pleased with the tremendous working relationships that were development by so many groups and companies.
“The project managers and work crews have done an outstanding job in completing this complex project and in meeting the many tight deadlines over the past three years.”
City Council approved the construction of the project in February 2011. Excavation on the tunnel began in July 2011 and over 600,000 cubic metres of earth and rock was removed from the site.
The concrete pour of the first of 50 sections of tunnel walls and roof took place in February 2012 and the last section was completed in October. A total of 58,000 cubic metres of concrete was poured during construction.
This project included extending Airport Trail from Barlow Trail to 36 Street N.E. as a six-lane roadway, and widening Airport Trail between Deerfoot Trail and Barlow Trail from four to six lanes. Most of the work on the roadways was done in 2013.
The overall budget for this project was $294.8 million.
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Onward/The City is strategically building up its road network to make travelling easier while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.