The future road will be the most important investment in highways in the history of the province of Ontario and it is the result of the commitment of the governments of Canada and Ontario to improve the transportation network in the border area of Windsor.
Besides improving traffic efficiency and safety between Canada and the US, the project includes measures that are directly geared to enhancing the quality of life of the citizens in the area including, among others, 120 hectares of parks and garden areas.
This new 11 km stretch of highway, with three lanes in each direction, will go through tunnels part of the way, enhancing the air quality by avoiding crossing the roads in the zone and allowing a continuous flow of traffic. Likewise, noise emissions will be significantly reduced and new leisure opportunities will be available for residents in the area, including 20 km of recreational paths. There are also plans to build a service road parallel to the main highway, municipal roads, junctions, and the most modern traffic management measures will be implemented.
The project includes very important initiatives for environmental conservation, for example, the protection of species in danger of extinction and the restoration of their natural habitat.
The estimated investment of 1,328 million Canadian dollars will represent a great stimulus for the economy in the area, because it is expected that over 12,000 jobs will be created directly and indirectly, mostly within the Windsor Essex region.
The consortium that was chosen, consisting of ACS, Acciona and Fluor, also includes each groupÂ’s respective construction companies. ACS Group will be carrying out its construction activities via Dragados, its main construction company.
ACS was chosen over two consortiums consisting of leading companies in the sector in North America. One of the groups comprised Macquarie and Hochtieff, along with the construction companies Kiewit and Aecon, and the other one was led by Bilfinger Berger and HSBC, along with the construction companies PCL and Walsh.
ACSÂ’ success in the North American concession market
The election of ACS to carry out the Windsor Essex Parkway project is another step towards the consolidation of the presence of ACS Group in Canada, after having been awarded, earlier this year, the construction of the South Fraser Highway in the province of British Columbia, with an investment of 716 million Canadian dollars, and the A-30 Highway project in Quebec, which is already under construction and entails an investment of 1,800 million Canadian dollars.
In just over four years of presence in North America, ACS GroupÂ’s concession developer has been awarded six different projects: the A-30 highway in Quebec, the I-69 in Texas, the I-595 in Florida, the Mid-Currituck bridge in North Carolina, the South Fraser highway in British Columbia, and the Windsor Essex Parkway in Ontario. The company is also on the shortlist of tenders for the construction of a building for the maintenance and storage of light trains in the city of Toronto and for the construction of the I-75 highway in Georgia.
Thus ACS Group continues its growth process in North America, which it considers a strategic market. Via Dragados, its main company in the Construction Division, it has been present in the United States, conducting civil works projects since 2005, when it was awarded its first extension of the New York Subway, a huge engineering project to connect Grand Central Station in Manhattan and the district of Queens, going below the Hudson River bed, valued at over US$ 400 million. Subsequently Dragados embarked on further projects in north-eastern USA, improving roads and dams, as well as building a dam in Puerto Rico and gaining its first contract for the enlargement of Miami airport. In January 2006 it acquired 100% of Schiavione, a company specialising in civil works in north-eastern USA, and in January 2009 it acquired 100% of John P. Picone, a construction company in the state of New York, as well as 100% of Pulice, the biggest contractor in Arizona.
Iridium, ACS GroupÂ’s concession company has been the worldÂ’s largest private transportation infrastructure developer for over 10 years, handling development investment volumes in excess of 30 billion Euros. This public infrastructure and facilities company participates in the management of 70 companies dedicated to concessions, spanning the entire value chain of the concession business.
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