Arcadis and AECOM to design Ontario Line tunnel and underground stations

Map courtesy IO.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and transit agency Metrolinx have selected the ‘Pape North Connect’ team to develop the Ontario Line subway project’s Pape tunnel and underground stations contract in Toronto.

The team—which includes Arcadis and AECOM as designers and Webuild Civil Work and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) Canada as applicant leads and constructors—submitted a proposal in September 2023. Now, they have signed a development and master construction agreement (DMCA) with Metrolinx under a progressive design-build (PDB) contract.

The scope of work includes:

• 3 km of twin tunnels under Pape Avenue from the Gerrard portal to the Don Valley bridge.
• two tunnel portals at Gerrard Avenue and Minton Place.
• one underground station at Pape Avenue and Danforth Avenue, interfacing with the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC’s) existing Pape Station on Line 2.
• another underground station at Cosburn Avenue and Pape Avenue.
• three emergency exit and service buildings; ​underpinning of the existing Pape Station.
• a rail switch/crossover in the tunnel near Sammon Avenue.

The DMCA incorporates a multi-stage design development phase to allow for a collaborative approach between Metrolinx as project owner and Pape North Connect as the contracting partner. They will work together to finalize the scope, risk allocation and pricing of various elements of the PDB contract.

Development is anticipated to take approximately two years, though early-works construction can commence during this phase. Once the development phase has concluded, Metrolinx will have the option to sign a final target-price agreement with Pape North Connect, which would include final agreements on detailed designs and a negotiated price.

The Ontario Line project is being delivered through a variety of public-private partnership (P3), progressive design-build and traditional procurement contracts.