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Reducing Deerfoot Trail gridlock through quick fixes could still take up to a decade, says a consultant reviewing the freeway’s future.

A study launched by the city and province is expected to come up with short-term solutions to Deerfoot’s seemingly chronic gridlock by the end of this year, said project manager Stephen Power from Parsons Corp.

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But measures such as adding lanes and controlling traffic flow on ramps will likely take much longer, he said.

“Near-term is really still five or 10 years,” said Power.

“We can’t do recommendations at the planning level and be out there building next year.”

Even so, he said officials are “fast-tracking” the process of shorter-term improvements, but added how soon they’re implemented is up to the city and province, the latter government currently operating Deerfoot.

Public pressure for improvements on a freeway that officials consider 20 years obsolete is undeniable, said Power.