CALGARY – Low oil prices are forcing the province to review costs of all its construction projects, including the still unfinished Calgary ring road.
Premier Jim Prentice made the admission in a news conference Wednesday.
He says timelines for the southwest ring road need to be considered with all the other capital projects under review.
Ring road construction, however, has an expiration date. The land transfer deal negotiated with the Tsuu T’ina Nation stipulates the project must be completed within seven years or the land reverts back to the First Nation.
“The southwest ring road is somewhat complicated by the fact there are also scheduled investments that need to be made under the agreement with the Tsuu T’ina First Nation. It is my understanding in the agreement reached… there are certain milestones that the province is governed by that we need to be mindful of,” says Prentice.
The premier says he has no plans of scraping the ring road project as a result of budget cutbacks.
Alberta Transportation plans to start construction in 2016 and finish work by 2020.
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