CALGARY, (Mar. 14, 2005) — The much-anticipated ring road project around the City of Calgary was taken to the next level, as Alberta Transportation signed an official framework agreement with Chief Sandford Big Plume of the Tsuu T’ina First Nation for construction of the ring road on Nation lands.

The agreement regards the future construction of the ring road on and builds on the agreement-in-principle signed in April 2004.

At that time, the two parties agreed to commit to Section 35 of the Indian Act to transfer title of the lands required for the ring road, which would be a divided, multi-lane freeway connecting Highway 22X to Glenmore Trail. The freeway would have limited access via interchanges, and allow commuters and truckers to bypass the congested Trans-Canada highway. The road is expected to jut off of Glenmore Tr. and Sarcee Tr., and sidestep just west of the Weaselhead area before connecting back to 37 St. S.W.

The latest agreement sets a Nov. 1, 2005 deadline for a draft final agreement and a Sept. 1, 2006 deadline for ratification. The framework agreement also defines major areas of future negotiation including: transfer of control of Nation lands to the Province; compensation for the lands; design of the ring road; access to the lands; access points to the ring road; and the construction schedule.

Tsuu T’ina citizens will approve the final agreement by referendum and the final agreement must be in place before construction starts. However, the Province can start preliminary work such as engineering planning studies and getting environmental approvals while the final agreement is being negotiated.

Construction will start once the final agreement and all environmental approvals are in place and a final engineering design is available. The province says it hopes to complete the project by late 2008 or early 2009.

A total cost for the freeway isn’t yet available. The government says land compensation negotiations need to be further along and an in-depth engineering study needs to be done before costs can be estimated.

“The framework agreement is an important step forward because it allows us to proceed to a final agreement quickly and for construction to start as soon as possible,” said Lyle Oberg, Alberta’s Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency will now determine if an environmental impact assessment is necessary and the scope of such an assessment. The department will soon hire a consultant to complete the assessment and identify areas that require mitigation measures.

The project description will be posted on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s on-line registry within the next two weeks and the public will have 30 days to submit comments.