British Columbia announced a preferred contractor, the Acciona-Ghella Joint Venture, for its 3.5-mile, $2.11 billion Broadway Subway Project in Vancouver, B.C. The project, via a design-build-finance model and will move into contract negotiations, is the city’s costliest infrastructure project ever and will be in conjunction with the Transportation Investment Corp., a crown corporation serving B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, says the ministry in a news release. 

Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2020 following the contract’s final negotiation with service on the SkyTrain line from VCC-Clark Station to Broadway and Arbutus running in 2025. The 11-minute trip is expected to save the average transit commuter almost 30 minutes per day and relieve traffic congestion along Broadway. 

Funding comes from the B.C. government, the federal government and the city of Vancouver. TransLink will operate the line. 

The Acciona-Ghella Joint Venture features Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc. and Ghella Canada Ltd. as the proponent, design-build contractor and tunnel contractor. IBI Group Professional Services (Canada) Inc., Dialog BC Architecture Engineering Interior Design Planning Inc., Mott MacDonald Canada Ltd. and Ingenieria Especializada Obra Civil e Industrial, S.A. are listed as the design contractor. Systems integration contractors are Acciona, Ghella and Parsons Inc.

The two other finalists who bid for the job were West 9thPartners, heavily filled by SNC-Lavalin companies; and Broadway Connect, led by Dragados Canada and Aecon.