The South Fraser Perimeter Road is 80 per cent finished, it was announced at a press event Friday in Delta.
The project is on schedule for completion this December, said provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone.
"This new highway will help meet the transportation needs of our growing communities and expanding markets by providing an efficient route for commercial, commuter and tourism traffic," he told a gathering at the SFPR/Highway 17 interchange.
He said the route will make communities safer by removing commercial trucks from residential roads and that it could cut commute times for families traveling round trip from Delta to Highway 1 in Langley by an hour a day.
Fleetwood - Port Kells MP Nina Grewal said the 40-kilometre four-lane road, with a cost of $1.26 billion, will improve the efficiency, reliability and capacity of the Lower Mainlaind's road network.
Mayor Lois Jackson called the SFPR a "mighty project" and said it will be a benefit to Delta residents.
"When this new access is completed in December I know it will help to alleviate some existing major traffic congestion through the 99 corridor and Tilbury industrial areas," she said.
Part of the project includes a $20 million irrigation system in Delta, which will bring fresh water to more than 15,000 acres of farmland.
"The system the government has committed to will help agriculture substantially," said John Savage, with the Delta Farmers Institute.
