The Ontario government has awarded a contract for the first major package of civil and utility work for the Hamilton Light Rail Transit (LRT) project to a consortium led by Aecon.

The 14‑kilometre LRT will create approximately 6,000 jobs annually during construction and up to 1,000 permanent jobs to support operations and maintenance when the project is complete.

“Our government is making historic investments in public transit to fight gridlock and keep people moving,” said Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria. “Today’s milestone brings us one step closer to delivering the Hamilton LRT, a project that will support 50,000 daily riders, connecting more people to jobs and housing and giving families and workers more choice and better access to fast, affordable public transit.”

The Hamilton LRT Civil & Utilities Alliance, which includes Aecon as the construction partner responsible for project delivery, and a joint venture between Hatch, Egis and Systra as the design team, has executed an alliance development phase agreement with Metrolinx to negotiate scope, cost, and schedule of various elements of the project.

The development phase will be approximately 18 to 24 months and will be followed by the construction implementation phase.

“Aecon’s experience building some of the most transformative transit projects of this generation, including three modern LRTs in Ontario, will be of great value to this critical project for Hamilton,” said Aecon Group President and CEO Jean-Louis Servranckx. “We are harnessing the collective strengths of our civil and utilities teams to self-perform this vital project. The collaborative development phase provides benefits to all stakeholders, and we look forward to working with our client to advance this project that will improve mobility for growing communities.”

The Hamilton LRT Civil and Utilities contract includes preparatory work along the LRT route, including utility relocations, grade separations, road reconstruction and upgraded sidewalks and traffic control systems.

The contract will also advance design work to replace the bridge over Highway 403, build a new LRT underpass beneath the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Hamilton Subdivision near Gage Avenue and improve the Queenston Road bridge over the Red Hill Valley Parkway.

Once complete the 17-station LRT line will include stops at McMaster University, Hamilton Stadium, Eastgate Square, Ottawa Street, Gage Park, downtown Hamilton and other key destinations, as well as connections to GO Transit and Hamilton’s HSR bus service.

The province and federal government are investing up to $3.4 billion to support the development and construction of the Hamilton LRT.

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