August 25, 2010

British Columbia signs P3 deal to build Fraser River perimeter road

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

VANCOUVER

The B.C. government has signed a major public private partnership (P3) agreement to build a road south of the Fraser River in Delta and Surrey.

The South Fraser Perimeter Road is intended to improve the movement of people and goods through the region and provide better access to major trade gateways.

Under the contract, Fraser Transportation Group will be undertaking construction work costing $658 million.

The contract finalizes a performance-based, fixed-price contract with Fraser Transportation Group.

The group includes ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc. and Ledcor Industrial/Mining Group Ltd. as equity partners, and Dragados Canada Inc., Ledcor CMI Ltd., Belpacific Excavating and Shoring Limited Partnership and Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd. as members of the design-build team.

The contract includes $200 million in private-sector financing and gives the Fraser Transportation Group responsibility for the construction, cost, schedule, design, long-term maintenance and operational risks related to the project.

The environmental and agricultural mitigation and enhancement budget has been increased to $88 million, the largest mitigation plan for a highway construction project of this size in B.C.

This commitment includes improved and expanded agricultural irrigation systems, remediation of landfills and contaminated sites, improvements to the water management system for Burns Bog and fisheries habitat enhancements. The new 40-kilometre, four-lane road along the south side of the Fraser River will provide a new route to remove heavy truck traffic from local roads.

It will extend from Deltaport Way in southwest Delta to 176th Street (Highway 15) in Surrey with connections to Highways 1, 91, 99 and TransLink’s new Golden Ears Bridge.

The Government of Canada, through its Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, is contributing $363 million towards this project, in addition to a $2 million contribution towards the Environmental Assessment process.

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