Autoroute 25

Asset: Transportation 
Model: DBFOM
Status: Operational since May 2011 
Contract Value: $143.1 million 
Estimated Value-for-Money (VfM): $226.1 million 
Completion Date of P3 Agreement: XX (35 year contract) 

The Autoroute 25 project was Québec’s first P3 transportation project and the first use of an electronic tolling system in the province. It opened in  

The 7.2-kilometre, four-lane divided highway runs between Henri-Bourassa Boulevard in Montréal and the Autoroute 440/A-25 interchange in Laval. The new portion included interchanges, overpasses and a 1.2-kilometre, tolled, six-lane bridge with a multifunctional path for pedestrians and cyclists. 

The A25 Bridge was also the first cable-stayed bridge to be constructed in the province in more than 40 years. The bridge design was complicated by preserving an environmentally sensitive fish habitat, restrictions on the tower height and the proximity of high-voltage power lines. 

The project, which started construction in 2007, was completed two years earlier than would have been possible using a conventional public-sector approach to highway construction. 

Total financing of approximately $570 million was committed to the project through a combination of equity, senior bank debt and government payments. 

The partnership agreement is performance-based with deductions to the private sector for failure to maximize traffic lane availability, particularly during rush hour, and for failure to meet performance and safety requirements including driving comfort, towing and lighting. 

A “gradual toll increase system” provides for minimum revenue protection for the private partner and upside sharing of toll revenue between the private partner and government if toll revenues are 20 per cent higher than revenue projections made by the Quebec Ministry of Transportation’s traffic and revenue advisor.