The provincial government of Alberta assigned $ 8.5 billion to the 2025 budget for the three -year strategic plan of the Ministry of Transport and Economic Corridors.
If it is approved, funding would include more than $ 4 billion for rural projects, $ 2.1 billion for the Calgary region and $ 2 billion for the Edmonton region.
“As Alberta develops, the same is true for the need for a safe, reliable and effective infrastructure to support the province’s communities to attract investments and stimulate economic development,” said Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Transport and Economic Corridors.
The province allocated $ 2.6 billion for the planning, design and construction of major highway and bridge projects which, according to him, will create thousands of jobs across Alberta and improve the traffic flow by combining the main corridors such as highways 3 and 11 and making major improvements to Deerfoot Trail in Calgary and Highway 881.
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The budget also includes $ 1.7 billion over three years for capital maintenance, extending the lifespan of the road network and existing bridge in the province.
“The construction and fixing of roads and bridges improve the productivity of the Alberta economy,” said Ron Glen, CEO of The Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association. “We have said that for a long time as an entrepreneurs that we need stable financing to allow our member companies to have the capacity to plan the future of Alberta.”
In addition to road works, the budget also includes significant funding for TLR projects in Calgary and Edmonton. He put aside $ 5 million for planning a new public transport solution connecting the Calgary airport terminal with the future LRT extension station on the blue line.
“Transit infrastructure is essential, connecting people to each other, employment, social services, local businesses and in the case of the airport in the world,” said Ruhee Ismail-Teja with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
Ismail-Teja says that having a direct transit center will support employers and employees of Calgary, as well as tourism, and will strengthen the role of the city and the province in world trade.
“The effective transport infrastructure is not only to move people, it is a question of making our cities more competitive and attracting new commercial opportunities,” said Ismail-Teja. “Intelligent infrastructure investments do not only meet today’s needs; They create future growth opportunities. »»
If it is adopted, the 2025 budget would also allocate $ 240.1 million to build and repair the water management infrastructure to provide irrigation to the agricultural section and to the attenuation of floods to Alberta communities.
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