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The northeast leg of Anthony Henday Drive will be ready for its scheduled Oct. 1 opening, Transportation Minister Brian Mason said Friday.

“It’s going to be a fabulous road,” Mason said. “The construction, quite frankly, has been a bit of a pain and I’ll be glad to see the end of it.”

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Despite a rainy construction season, Mason said the road will open as scheduled.

“They say it’s going to be all ready to go, but there will be some finishing work that has to continue for a while,” he said. “It’ll be open in that everything necessary for the safe driving of vehicles on that road will be finished by Oct. 1.”

Construction on the remaining 27 kilometres of the ring road around Edmonton started in June 2012 at a projected cost of $1.8 billion.

“I believe it’s on time and I think we’ll know better down the road and in a number of months how it’s come in with respect to budget,” Mason said.

“It’s going to move traffic much more efficiently. I know from where I live in northeast Edmonton, I can shave a half-hour off the trip to the international airport by taking that road, even with the construction.”