The City Council of Calgary voted 8-7 Monday to build the CAD 295M (USD 298M) underpass beneath the city airport’s new runway.
A report from the Transportation Department found that building the underpass in addition to the new runway would be the city’s cheapest option. Cost estimates found that building a bored tunnel later would cost CAD 1.5bn to 1.6bn (roughly the same in USD).
In April, Barlow Trail will be closed for the Calgary Airport Authority to construct a fourth runway. The city has been exploring options for a road connection, particularly under the runway.
A third option, abandoning the airport link, was considered as well. This would eventually require a series of improvements in the surrounding road network, estimated to cost CAD 325M to 425M (USD 328M to 429M).
The tunnel design has been reduced from 720m to 615m, with a recommendation for six lanes to accommodate future conversion from bus-based to rail-based transit. Completion is targeted for 2014, in line with the fourth runway’s opening.
