By Robin MacLennan
Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario has started construction to widen 18 kilometres of Highway 401 from Mississauga to Milton.
The $640 million project involves the widening and reconstruction of approximately 18 kilometres of Highway 401 from east of the Credit River in Mississauga to west of Regional Road 25 in Milton.
West Corridor Constructors (WCC) had been selected earlier in the year by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) to design, build and finance work under a Public Private Partnership (P3) approach.
WCC participants include: Developer: Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc. (Aecon), Parsons Inc. (Parsons), and Amico Design Build Inc. (Amico); Constructors: Aecon, Amico, Parsons Inc.; Designers: Parsons (Lead Designer), Hatch, EXP; and Financial: National Bank Financial.
The project includes widening the existing six-lane configuration to the following:
- 12 lane core-collector system from the Credit River to Winston Churchill Boulevard;
- 10 lanes from Winston Churchill Boulevard to Highway 407 ETR/Highway 401 interchange;
- 12 lane core-collector system from Highway 407 ETR/ Highway 401 interchange to east of the James Snow Parkway;
- 10 lanes from the James Snow Parkway to west of Regional Road 25;
- Median High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes; and
- Support facilities and features including drainage, lighting, signage, Advanced Traffic Management System, carpool lots.
“This crucial expansion of Highway 401 means that thousands of Ontarians will spend less time in traffic and more time on the things that matter to them – being with family, friends or at work,” Kinga Surma, the Associate Minster of Transportation, said in a statement.
The expansion also includes modifications to existing infrastructure to accommodate the proposed widening, including nine new, replaced or widened bridges, five bridge rehabilitations, retaining wall rehabilitation and seven culvert replacements, extensions or rehabilitations.
MTO and IO selected WCC to design, build and finance work under a Public Private Partnership (P3) approach. Under a Design-Build, Finance delivery model, detail design and construction will occur simultaneously as components of the project advance and environmental clearances are issued.
The preliminary design was previously completed in 2013 and the current detail design and construction is following the approved planning process for a Group ‘B’ project under the MTO Class EA for Provincial Transportation Facilities (2000).
Approximately 250,000 vehicles travel the stretch of highway each day.
“This stretch of Highway 401 is one of the busiest in the GTA. Making smart investments in both highway and transit projects is part of our plan to support economic growth and get people moving,” said Mississauga East-Cooksville MPP Kaleed Rasheed. “Expanding lanes on this key section is an important part of expanding our regional transportation network.”