Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Transportation have closed the request for proposals process for the QEW Garden City Skyway – Bridge Twinning project in the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

Of the five teams that were originally shortlisted to respond to the RFP, four submitted proposals: Garden City Connectors, Peter Kiewit Sons ULC, Skyway Bridging Partners, and SkyTwin Partners (formerly AtkinsRealisMajor Projects Inc.).

Proposals will be evaluated by Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).

The top-ranked team will enter into a development phase, expected to start in Spring 2025, and work with IO and MTO to finalize the project agreement and complete the detailed design.

Once the development phase is completed, IO and MTO will have the option to enter into a project agreement for the construction of the new bridge with the successful team.

The project scope of work calls for construction of a 2.2-kilometre twin bridge connecting St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake north of the existing bridge across the Welland Canal. Also included in the scope is work to wide the QEW on approaches to the new bridge, realign local roads, build pier protections systems, retaining walls and stormwater management ponds, and relocate affected utilities.

Upon completion of the bridge, traffic from the existing bridge will be temporarily switched onto the newly constructed bridge to allow for rehabilitation of the existing Garden City Skyway bridge (under a separate contract).