Aecon’s QEW widening project called a "complicated contract"

Teri McKibbon, Aecon Civil and Utilities president, talks about the details of Aecon Construction’s $88.7 million contract with Ontario’s transportation ministry to widen the Queen Elizabeth Way with new High Occupancy Vehicle lanes.

Aecon Construction has been awarded an $88.7 million contract by Ontario’s transportation ministry to widen the Queen Elizabeth Way with new High Occupancy Vehicle lanes.

“MTO has been a valued customer of Aecon’s for over 75 years, and we are very pleased to be working on this project which is the largest contract we have done for the MTO,” said Teri McKibbon, Aecon Civil and Utilities president.

“We look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with MTO as we complete this important and complicated contract.”

The QEW will be widened from six to eight lanes to create an HOV lane in each direction from Third Line to Burloak Drive. Construction has already begun and is expected to be complete by July 2011.

The $88.7 million contract is the second largest ever awarded by the MTO.

Included in the project is the rehabilitation of the existing QEW bridge at Bronte Road and building a new bridge, under the QEW, as part of a widening and realignment of Bronte Road.

HOV lanes are dedicated for buses and vehicles carrying more than one occupant. The lanes provide fast and more reliable travel during peak travel periods when other lanes are congested.

To minimize traffic disruption during construction, traffic on the QEW will be diverted to a new bridge being completed under a separate MTO contract. Once the project is completed, this bridge will accommodate only eastbound traffic, while westbound traffic will use the newly refurbished bridge completed by Aecon.

The project also includes grading, drainage, hot mix paving, and traffic signal illumination. All this work will require 12,000 cubic metres of concrete, 250,000 tonnes of granular, 100,000 tonnes of asphalt, and the excavation of 267,000 cubic metres of earth and 238,000 cubic metres of rock.

The other improvements under this contract include: Bronte Road interchange reconstruction; Bronte Road realignment and reconstruction to the east; a new bridge at the QEW over the realigned Bronte Road; heritage light poles installation and Bronte Creek Bridge repair; service road interchange removal west of Bronte Creek; commuter parking lot relocation and additional lighting.

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