News Roads & Bridges
Construction completed on $1.4B Southwest Calgary Ring Road

Five years after construction began on one of Alberta’s biggest-ever infrastructure projects, the Southwest Calgary Ring Road has opened to traffic.

The $1.42 billion Southwest Calgary Ring Road connects Highway 8 (near the Elbow Springs Golf Club) to Macleod Trail SE and makes up about 20 per cent of the entire Calgary Ring Road.

The project consisted of 49 bridges, 31 kilometres of new six and eight-lane divided highway, 14 interchanges, three river crossings, two river realignments at Elbow River and Fish Creek, two bridge rehabilitations, one road flyover, one railway crossing (flyover) and one tunnel.

Sixteen million cubic metres of earth were excavated as part of the project. According to the province, if 1,650 NHL-sized rinks full of dirt were stacked on top of each other, that’s how much earth was moved for this project.

The project consumed 13 million kilograms of rebar and one million metric tonnes of asphalt.

Over the past two years, construction crews worked on landscaping, grading, completion of drainage, electrical work on street and traffic lights, signage, safety barrier and guardrail installation, utility work, base and finish paving, and line painting.

The project created approximately 2,000 jobs.

The federal government provided $333.6 million from its National Infrastructure Component toward the project budget.

Twelve kilometres of the Southwest Calgary Ring Road opened in October 2020. A 10-kilometre section through the former Tsuut’ina Nation lands is called Tsuut’ina Trail.

“As Alberta’s government builds for the future, this critical infrastructure, only made possible by the goodwill of the Tsuut’ina people, will help ensure our workforce can meet the demand for highly-skilled workers in all sectors of the economy,” says Ric McIver, minister of municipal affairs in a statement.

“It is my fervent wish that the Tsuut’ina people benefit right along with other Albertans.”

The final section of the ring road, the West Calgary Ring Road, will fully open in 2024. Once complete, the Calgary Ring Road will provide 101 kilometres for travel and improved market access.