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Jacquie Hansen-Sydenham, president of the Discovery Ridge association, said the stretch of land where the ring road will run is narrow to begin with.

The effect on the community will be made worse by a roadway design that allows for potential future expansion to 16 lanes, with a massive grassy median and oversized bridge decks.

Hansen-Sydenham said nobody is fighting the location of the ring road, but that the size must be scaled back.

“Our request to Alberta Transportation from the get-go is that it deserves unique consideration because it is a unique portion and closer to homes than anywhere else when it comes to lighting, sound attenuation, where the lanes are placed, etc.,” she said.

Hansen-Sydenham — who met with Mason in December — said the government could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars if it reduced the size of the various interchanges along the southwest ring road.

“But even if we were to walk away and say, ‘If they want to spend their money to build interchanges for a road that may never be needed, go ahead’ . . . at a minimum the 69th Street interchange should not be built to that degree,” she said.

Mason said in a recent interview that he is sympathetic to the neighbourhood concerns, though he said results of preliminary analysis “indicate there’s nowhere near as much money to be saved as they believe.”

“Where we could find some savings and improve the roadway from the point of view of the quality of life of the people in those two communities, we’re prepared to do that,” he said.