A consortium headed by Sydney Australia-based Macquarie Bank Ltd. has won the contract to build a 7.2-kilometer four-lane highway linking Montreal, Quebec, with suburban Laval. The $377-million, 35-year design-build-operate-finance contract will include a six-lane, 1.2-km private toll bridge over Rivière des Prairies and the construction of lanes intended to integrate the new stretch into existing highway networks, plus overpasses and interchanges. A partnership agreement with the Quebec government will be signed later this summer. “One of the strengths of the public-private partnerships approach is competition. If well structured, [it] will attract a very experienced group of bidders,” says a government spokesperson.