A ceremony was held on Monday to name the southwest ring road Tsuut’ina Trail.
The road will pass through Tsuut’ina land in a land transfer agreement made in 2013; a deal that was six decades in the making.
“It wasn’t about the dollars, it was about a recognition of our ancestors and the hard work they put into that portion of the land, it has very significant cultural foundations, cultural identity, spiritual connections, so we had to come through all of that and make our peace with that,” said Lee Crowchild, Chief of the Tsuut’ina Nation.
Kent Hehr, federal Minister of Veterans Affairs, Brian Mason, Minister of Infrastructure Transportation and Mayor Naheed Nenshi were also on hand for the announcement.
The road will stretch from Highway 8 to Highway 22X and includes reconstruction of Glenmore Trail between Sarcee Trail and east of 37 Street SW.
There will be 31 kilometres of six- and eight-lane divided highway, 14 interchanges, two flyovers, 47 bridges, one tunnel, and three river crossings over the Elbow River and Fish Creek.
The cost of the $1.42 billion project is being shared by all three levels of government, and the roadway is designed to accommodate between 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles per day.
The Chief also said he's like to see the entire ring road named Tsuu'tina Trail instead of Stoney Trail but Brian Mason said he just learned of the idea and he'd have to consult with the Stoney people.
The southwest portion of the ring road is expected to be open to traffic in 2021.
