Consortium selected for Saskatchewan’s biggest transportation project

Several consulting engineering firms are part of the P3 consortium that has been awarded the Regina Bypass project.
The 40-kilometre twinned highway is the largest transportation infrastructure project in Saskatchewan’s history and is the province’s second project to be done as a public-private partnership (P3).
The route starts at Highway 11 northwest of the city and travels south. It runs down the west side of the city past Highway 1 (which bisects the city east-west), then loops south and back up to meet Highway 1 on the east side of the city. From there it travels due east along the Highway 1 corridor to Highway 48 and Balgone.
SaskLink Global Transportation Partners (SGTP) has been selected to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the highway. Contract negotiations are still going on and expected to conclude late this summer.
The engineering companies that are part of SGTP are Parsons, McElhanney, Urban Systems, Buckland and Taylor, Exp, Clifton Associates and Delcan. Other partners are VINCI, GraCorp and National Bank.
Three P3 teams were shortlisted for the project, with SGTP winning over Queen City Infrastructure Group and Wascana Development Partners.
Planning and consultations over the bypass have been going on since 2008 and included 24 public consultations and open houses. AMEC Earth and Environmental provided the technical proposal for the environmental assessment.
Now things are moving, the province has already started negotiating with landowners along the route and is doing geotechnical and groundwater studies. It says it will enter an early works agreement with SGTP to cover items such as service roads to the southeast and east of the city and an overpass at White City. Design work and the relocation of utilities will be part of this work.
Construction is anticipated to begin this summer, with completion by the fall of 2019. The  project is expected to create 8,200 construction-related jobs in Saskatchewan.