Alberta spends $50M on new critical wastewater pipeline for Airdrie

A key priority in the city of Airdrie is getting a boost from the provincial government.

The provincial government is spending $50 million to support growth in the city of Airdrie, a Calgary suburb that’s ballooned to more than 90,000 people.

The money will be spent on a new seven-kilometre wastewater pipeline that will connect to the City of Calgary’s existing network.

“The pipeline will support new serviced subdivisions, allowing for the addition of up to 45,000 new housing units along with commercial and industrial growth,” said Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s minister of transportation and economic corridors.

“It’s not flashy, it’s not sexy, but it’s important for the people that live here and just their everyday, daily convenience. I encourage other municipalities to focus on critical infrastructure that they need.”

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Since 2022, the population of Airdrie has grown by more than 25 per cent and the province says this commitment will eliminate the need for the city to build a new treatment facility on its own.

“This comes at a very pivotal time in our growth. We crossed the 90,000 barrier this year, which puts us even closer to the third-largest municipality in Alberta,” said Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown.

“This will be the single largest provincial investment specifically to the municipality of Airdrie.”

Brown says he has more demands from the provincial government but wants to enjoy this latest investment for the time being.

“We have a lot of priorities coming up, as you know we have a new rec centre going in and have a number of developments going in our just about complete, like Inspire (Airdrie’s new library), our new fire hall (and) we’re doing huge renovations to the twin arenas.

“We’re going to need a new water line, so infrastructure is always an issue for us but I think we just need to sit down as a team to find out what the next priority is.”

Design work on the pipeline, which has a total cost of $114 million, will begin late this year, with construction set to begin in 2026.

The project is expected to be completed in 2027.