The City of Toronto has tapped Stantec to lead the delivery of the fourth phase of the Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation project.

Under the terms of the arrangement, the firm will provide multidisciplinary engineering consulting services through planning and preliminary design, procurement, design-build, and post construction.

Early in 2024, Stantec announced its acquisition of Morrison Hershfield, which doubled its transportation staff in Ontario and strengthened its presence in the Greater Toronto Area.

The Gardiner Expressway is one of Canada’s busiest corridors, with 140,000 vehicles traveling it daily. Age, heavy use, weather, and salt have necessitated a multiyear rehabilitation to extend its life. The expressway runs along established neighborhoods and the city’s downtown core, making it an extremely complex project.

“The Gardiner Expressway is a critical corridor for the city,” said Susan Walter, executive vice president of Infrastructure at Stantec. “We have been working with the City of Toronto’s on its multiyear Strategic Rehabilitation Plan to support the safe operation and increase the life of this 60-year-old expressway since 2019.”

Section 4 of the rehabilitation will replace 2.2 kilometers of elevated roadway from Grand Magazine Street to York Street. The scope of work includes 91 bridge spans and five on- and off-ramps. The rehabilitation strategy will include structural modifications, deck replacement, structural steel girder repairs or replacement, and substructure rehabilitation and associated works.

Stantec’s contract on Section 4 is valued at $24 million.

Stantec has previously completed significant work for the City of Toronto on the Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Plan, including of the ongoing Section 2 deck replacement from Dufferin Street to Strachan Avenue, contract administration for Section 1 from Jarvis Street to Cherry Street, and preliminary design for Section 5 from Cherry Street to the Don Valley Parkway.

The firm has also helped deliver several major transportation projects around the Greater Toronto Area, including the Toronto Subway Program, Ontario Line, Hazel McCallion Line, Waterfront East Light Rail Transit Extension, Highway 401/409 Rail Tunnel, and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 63 bridges across the city.