Calgary airport tunnel on track to open May 2014

The new tunnel at the Calgary International Airport is on time and set to open May 14 next year, according to officials.

The city says it has turned authority of the final section of the tunnel over to the airport authority.

The 620-metre tunnel, which runs under the new airport runway between Barlow Trail and 36th Street N.E., will be able to accommodate six lanes of traffic and eventually an LRT line.

"As this project evolved and the approvals came through we negotiated an agreement with the airport authority, which was very challenging and required us to meet a series of dates so we didn't delay the construction of the airport's new runway," said Mac Logan, general manager of transportation. 

"And today marks the last of the dates of the legal agreement and the city has successfully completed our work and turned it over to the airport — all of the space above the tunnel, the taxiways and now all of the perimeter roads. So it was a very challenging undertaking but we've met all of those guidelines and I am happy to report that."

Much of the project's focus in 2013 was completing the road that enters and exits the tunnel and widening Airport Trail from four to six lanes from Barlow Trail to Deerfoot Trail.

The tunnel is projected to cost about $295 million.