April 11, 2010 - The Alberta government has signed a 33-year contract with Chinook Roads Partnership to design, build, operate and partially finance Stoney Trail from 17th Avenue SE to east of Macleod Trail. The contract also includes maintenance of Deerfoot Trail from its junction with Stoney Trail SE (currently Highway 22X) to its junction with Highway 2A.

The public-private partnership (P3) contract is worth $769 million in 2010 dollars. This compares to the estimated cost of $1.8 billion using traditional delivery. The Alberta government will advance $232 million during the construction phase while the Government of Canada is providing up to $100 million through the Major Infrastructure Component of the Building Canada Plan. Once the road opens to traffic, the Alberta government will make monthly payments over the 30-year life of the contract.

Chinook Roads Partnership will start construction in May 2010 and the road will open to traffic by the fall of 2013. Chinook’s partners include affiliates of SNC-Lavalin Inc., which have been present in Alberta since the 1950s and now employ more than 1,600 people in the province, and Acciona S.A., which has been active in the P3 market in Canada since 2001 and in Alberta since 2003.

The project includes 25 kilometres of six-lane roadway, nine interchanges, one road flyover, two rail flyovers and 29 total bridge structures. In terms of scope, it’s the largest single highway project in Alberta’s history. The roadway’s main line will be completely free-flow and have no traffic lights. Approximately 70 per cent of the Calgary ring road will be open to traffic once Stoney Trail SE is completed.

Using Alberta’s P3 model for highways allows Stoney Trail SE to be built two years sooner than through conventional delivery. Stoney Trail SE is the fourth project to use Alberta’s P3 model for highways.