What new neighbours of Calgary's ring road think as they watch its construction

The view from the top of The Slopes is spectacular.

Rolling grasslands stretch as far as the eye can seewesttowardBragg Creek from the private community of hilltop mansions on the southwest edge of Calgary.

But as you look out today and pretty much every day sinceconstruction beganon the southwestring roadmassive hauling trucks jet back and forth from constructionsites to nearby gravel-crushing operations, kicking up dust into the often eastbound wind.

Just over a kilometre away, some of that dust settles on LeonNellissen'spatio tableand the decks of his surrounding neighbours. And his house is threestoreysup, on a hill.

"We've had so much dust from the hauling road, which carries about 340 truckloads a day, when no water was sprayed on the road that our deck was brown it wasn't dusty, it was brown," said Nellissen, the president of The Slopes Community Association, adding he's concerned about the health effects.

The province says it's working on the problem.

"We have upwards of 10watering trucks going a day on the project right now, using more than 150,000 gallons of water with pretty much hourly treatment," saidAdam Johnson, Alberta Transportation's spokesperson for the ring road.

"Obviously when we have dry conditions there's going to be more dust, and we have construction conditions there's going tobe some dust, but we are doing everything in our power to keep on top of that."

West leg coming

But the construction on the ring road hasn't moved north of Highway 8, so the dustNellissenis experiencing is only from hauling materials for the southwest leg. Hewonders whatwill happen when construction on the west portion starts next year.

Renee MacKenziesays she is living on the "front lines" of the construction inCedarbrae.

"By the time the road actually opens the noise of more traffic all day will seem quiet for us after listening to equipment for fouryears. It's difficult to describe the impact on our lives down here,"she wrote in an email.

"I've changed my daily routine because of construction. I shop at different stores because of construction. I drive my dogs to what's left of the Oakridge dog park now because of construction. I plan my trips differently so I don't have to sit in traffic for an hour to get home from the local stores."

Nellissen's community association has banded together withneighbourhood groupsacross the southwest raising concerns about ring road construction when it comes to dust, noise,wetlands and light pollution.

• Read the noise modelling study for the southwest ring road here

They also want to see the north and south lanes built closer together, as Nellissen says it causes unnecessary environmental destruction. Both the southwest and west portions will start with six lanes, expanding toeight in some areas for merging and exiting, but could be much bigger one day.

"There are parts that are 150 metres apart for a possible expansion to 16 lanes," he said. "Sixteen lanes are only going to be needed in approximately 100 years, but in 100 years, transportation will be completely different."

The province agreesit isoverbuilt. Transportation Minister Brian Masontold theCalgary Heraldin January theyhad"no choice but to honour the plan crafted by the previous PC government" adding a 16-lane roadway is not the future of transportation.

Wetlands appeal

But an even a bigger concerns is wetlands.Nellissensays The Slopes was an independent community with no storm sewer that was later annexed by the cityso they need the wetlands below.

A group of concerned citizens launched anenvironmentalappeal last year, which temporarily halted construction, and won when it came to wetlands. The provincehad recently changed the way it assessed wetlands, so said the ring road plan needed to be updated.

Alberta Environment askedKGLContractors, the threecompanies behind the project, to change how they were handling more than 20 wetlands. There were four of particular concern, including the beaver pond known as Wetland 6 used by theWeaselheadPreservation Society.

In the end, it was decided that any wetland filled in from construction would need to be created somewhere elseandthe beaver pond wouldnot be disturbed with monitoring in placeuntil 2025 for contaminants such as salt or dirt. Thatinformation is now posted onKGL'swebsite.

But some say there's not enough wetland conservation happening. They also have major concerns about the bridge design over the Elbow River and what would happen to theWeaselheada source of Calgary's drinking water that is incrediblybiodiverseif there was a major flood.

"Given the current state of construction, I do not believe it would be prudent to consider a redesign of the project," wrote Environment Minister Shannon Phillips in her wetland appeal finding."If we were to attempt to redesign and rebuild the project now, it would result in significant costs increases, and in the process, I am concerned we would cause more environmental impacts, cause more disturbance to the people living in the area, and potentially delay a significant provincial infrastructure project."

But Alberta Environment says road design, and its potential impact, does not fall under its jurisdiction that's Alberta Transportation.

Johnson says the southwest ring road design is a done deal, and both the province and city are satisfied withthe road and bridge design after conducting studies.

And it's not like the ring road is a surprise to most people, since it hasbeen on the books for decades. It may have shocked a few when it was announced it was finally moving forward.

But Nellissen feels the province is rushing the project. He is patiently waiting for upcoming open houses to voice concerns about the west ring road before a contractor is selected for the project early next year.

• Check out an interactive map of the entire ring road here

Ring road on schedule

Alberta Transportation says those open houses will happen in September, and the project'stimelines have not changed:

• October 2021:Opening of the $1.4-billion southwest ring road. The 21-kilometre stretch runs from Macleod Trail to Highway 8.

• 2022:Opening of the west ring road (expected to cost more than $1 billion, but will depend on the final contract once a company bids on the project). The last nine kilometres of the ring road will connect Highway 8 into Stoney Trail near the Trans-Canada Highway heading west out of the city.

"We are working really hard to make sure we hear the concerns of the neighbours to the new ring road, and all the things they have to say," said Johnson.

"Over the course of the summer, we've had issues pop up with regards to dust, with regards to light pollution, and we've done what we can to get on top of that."

One reason a road redesign is not on the table may have something to do with the land swap deal with Tsuut'ina Nation that allowed the southwest ring road to go ahead. The agreement said construction must wrap by 2022 or the land reverts to the First Nation.

Building a different bridge

The road will transform Calgary transportation especially in the southwest, where there traditionally havebeen access problems.

One of those problem spots is the intersection of37thStreet S.W. andGlenmoreTrail, and the fact it's the only access point right now tothe Grey Eagle Casino. The ring road will change that, bringing a new access on the west side of the casino that can go south of the Weaselhead. The city is also planning more exits from Tsuut'inainto Lakeview.

It's something thatLakeviewresidentJesseSalusis watching closely. He's written extensively about the ring road and done some work with the Tsuut'ina.

"I think I'm fairly positive about the change," he said. "We'll have some new access options for our community ... and hopefully some of the congestion that we may have seen in the past we'll have some options to get around those."

Salus is also pretty excited about the newdevelopment onTsuut'inawhich claims to be one of the largest First Nations developments in North Americaand the restaurants and shops the expected $4.5-billion investment couldbring. It's calledTaza, which means roughly "in amazement" to the Tsuut'ina.

"It's the sort of thing Lakeview doesn't have much of," he said.

Salusthinks it could enhance the relationship between Calgarians and members of Tsuut'inaNation whilebringing in new job opportunities.

Kevin Littlelight with Tsuut'inaagrees. He says while the ring road construction is a "real inconvenience for the people on both sides," it's for the greater good. He says the goal of economic development is so important to the nation that it was a vision shared by the last three chiefs.

The nation expects to break ground on the proposal to build three villagesone forentertainment, one for health and innovation, and one for retail and tourism in November, with construction starting no later than spring.

Littlelightsays they have some big tenants signing on, andit should also bring some relief to parking problems at the Grey Eagle event centre.

But can you turn off the lights?

Another group watching the construction of the southwest ring road closely is theRothneyObservatory just southwest of the city. They are concerned how it will affect their dark sky policy, and how light pollution from the road could affect stargazers andthe nocturnal wildlife area at theAnn & Sandy Cross Conservation Area.

Suzanne Oel, with the M.D. of Foothills, is working with the Rothney Observatory to lobby the province.

"We're asking them to relook at their design because there'sa lot of lighting out there in different communities inthe States and in Europe that they've actually done some really innovative things, and so we hope they can try and put that into our ring road," she said.

They have reached out to localMLAs, writing a letter with their dark sky members to outline their argument, and plan to reconnect with the province after summer.

Alberta Transportation says it will continue to work with the group, but has a plan for lighting already, emphasizing that safety is the primary concern so drivers can see properly.

"We are going to be using very similar to the same lighting that we use across all our provincial highways," said Johnson.

He said the ring road will get upgraded lights that are being installed across provincial highways LED lights that are low temperature and low blue (which emit less light pollution).

"We've set a 15-metre stamp as high as the lighting standards are going to go, so a lot of this will go towardsreducing that light pollution," he added.

Johnson says anyone wanting more information, or the dates of the upcoming open houses,should watch for updates onthegovernment's west ring road website.

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