Traffic flowing on Windsor’s Herb Gray Parkway

After five years of construction, an 8 km stretch of the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway has been opened for traffic. 

“With 90 per cent of the Herb Gray Parkway now complete, we come closer to realizing the transportation benefits the parkway will deliver to residents and drivers alike and the economic benefits this new Parkway will bring to the region,” said Steven Del Duca, Ontario Minister of Transportation.

The 11 km parkway is the access road portion of a new proposed end-to-end border transportation system at Canada’s busiest land border crossing and premier trade corridor. The system, which includes the Parkway, a Canadian inspection plaza, an international bridge, a U.S. inspection plaza and a U.S. interchange, will link Windsor to Detroit and connect Highway 401 to the U.S. Interstate system for the first time.

It includes 11 tunnels, 7 pedestrian bridges, 2 pedestrian tunnels, 300 acres of green space, and 20 km of trails. A “Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savannah” theme is incorporated in design elements such as walls and noise barriers, and a wide variety of native plant species were included in the landscaping.

Windsor Essex Mobility Group (WEMG) was selected to design, build, finance and maintain the Parkway. On December 17, 2010, Infrastructure Ontario and MTO announced that WEMG reached financial close and signed a fixed-price contract with the province. The value of the contract to WEMG is approximately $1.4 billion in today’s dollars. Over the 30-year life of the contract, the total future payments will add up to approximately $2.2 billion. As part of this contract, WEMG is responsible for maintaining not only the road networks but the Parkway green space and trails as well. The contract with WEMG is performance-based.

WEMG is a consortium of ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc., Acciona Concessions Canada, and Fluor Canada Ltd. Parkway Infrastructure Constructors (PIC) is under contract to WEMG to design and construct the Parkway. PIC is a joint venture of Fluor Canada Ltd., Dragados Canada Inc. and Acciona Infrastructures Canada Inc.

Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM) was the prime designer for detailed design, leading a team that includes Dillon, AMEC, and LEA. HMM project management staff had overall responsibility for the design effort, managing a broad multidisciplinary team of over 350 consultants and technical specialists.

HMM’s design efforts included coordination of all components and design of significant portions of the highway and roadway works, including design of tunnels, bridges, culverts, pedestrian structures, lightweight and expanded polystyrene (EPS) backfill, retaining walls, traffic analysis of detour/staging, and storm sewer pump stations. HMM is also leading the Project Management and site overview during the construction period.

The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has launched the first phase of the procurement process to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.Request for Qualifications are now available as WDBA starts looking for a private sector partner team to build the P3 project.