The final twinning of a busy road in southwest Edmonton was approved at city council Thursday.

Rabbit Hill Road from the Town Centre Boulevard to Anthony Henday Drive will be twinned with construction expected to start in 2018.

The 1.6-kilometre stretch of road is the only piece of Rabbit Hill Road that isn't twinned.

Coun. Bryan Anderson said the stretch has been a source of "angst" to the community.

"We have a lot of pedestrian traffic back and forth across," he said.

"There's a lot of need for pedestrian-activated traffic lights which can't go in because installation would be thrown away because it's going to be twinned.

"So we can't put the traffic-safety infrastructure in because it's going to be twinned and we can't twin it because we don't have the money.

"Today we got the money."

The road is busy with more than 22,000 vehicles and 165 buses travelling along it each day, he said.

He predicted the traffic pressure on the area will only get worse.

"We've got 16,300 new residential units coming on stream in the very, very near future and a new school with 900 students that have to be accessed using this piece of road," he said.

The cost is estimated to be $4.5 million.