Alberta signs contract for northeast leg of Ring Road

TheAlberta government has signed a contract with a private consortium of companies to design, build and maintainthe northeast leg of Calgary's Ring Road.

The province will pay theStoney Trail Group$300 million during construction and then $21 million a year over the life of the 30-year contract, for a total of $930 million.

Stoney Trail Group has promised to have it finished by the fall of 2009. Under the deal, Stoney Trail is responsible for any inflation and weather delays.

Premier Ed Stelmach said Thursdaythe province will save about $350 million, compared to building the road in stages using conventional contracting methods.

"It's is a tremendous saving to the taxpayer to do it following this model rather than doing it piece by piece over a period of years," he said. "The road will be maintained for a fixed fee and that will take inflationary pressures will be into the future."

The northeast leg of the Ring Road will extend Stoney Trail from Deerfoot Trail to 17th Avenue South East.

Plans for aRing Road around Calgary have been on the books since the late 1970s.