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It’s been a long time coming. And it’s going to be a long time before Edmonton drivers experience a smooth-riding freeway with no red lights. But $1 billion in Yellowhead Trail upgrades are officially on the way.

Commuters and truck drivers won’t notice the effects for a while, with a complicated design process and land acquisitions pushing the construction start date to 2021. It will take 10 years from the start date for all the upgrades to be completed.

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The $1-billion upgrade will turn parts of the Yellowhead to a freeway from an expressway, meaning interchanges will be upgraded and the traffic lights will be removed. The 25-kilometre stretch of road sees up to 81,000 vehicles per day, 20 per cent of which are transport trucks.

Mayor Don Iveson said city councillors have been calling for upgrades as far back as 1989, when he was 10 years old.

The federal and provincial government are offering up to $241,600,000 each in funding for the project, while the rest of the tab for upgrades will be picked up by the City of Edmonton.