Fredericton to Moncton Highway
Location: New Brunswick
Status: In Operation
Provincial/Federal/Municipal: Provincial
Date of Financial Close: January 22, 1998
Date of Substantial Completion: October 2001
Type of P3: DBFOM
Total Dollar Amount: $584.8 million (construction)
Handback: 2028*
In the mid-1990s, the section of the TransCanada Highway in New Brunswick that stretches between Fredericton and Moncton had the reputation of being one of the most dangerous in Canada. Fatality and accident rates were in excess of the provincial average — between 1991 and 1997, 65 people were killed and 767 injured. It was also expensive to operate.
The newly twinned (four lane)195-kilometre Fredericton to Moncton Highway, which opened to motorists in 2001, serves as the primary ground transportation route between the two cities and supports regional and provincial travel throughout southern New Brunswick.
The highway incorporated technologically advanced design features such as rumble strips and weather sensors in the pavement. It required the construction of 20 interchanges, four of which are high-speed interchanges that connect one highway to another, and 89 structures such as bridges, overpasses, underpasses and water crossings. Among these structures are 28 overpasses including two high level bridges, each about one kilometre long, over the Saint John and Jemseg Rivers. Three interrelated quality management systems governed the design, construction and operation of the highway.
The highway traverses 180 watercourses, 30 of which have trout and salmon populations, and passes by large deer yards. A five-kilometre section goes through environmentally sensitive wetlands in which archeological sites of the Wolastoqiyik Nations were found. An environmental management system ensures that the construction and operation of the highway respects these factors.
Increasing the safety of the highway was a primary objective of this project and, for the first time in Canada, safety audits were designed into the design and construction process. Safety audits are a proactive initiative that can prevent accident blackspots, which are usually only discovered after a highway is opened. Even though technical specifications are followed, it is still possible to find improvements in the field and implement actions, such as flattening a slope, that can further enhance safety. The safety audits were carried out by an independent third party team together with traffic safety experts at the University of New Brunswick.
The P3 agreement assigns long-term operation, maintenance, management and rehabilitation responsibilities to the private partner: Maritime Road Development Corp. These responsibilities cover activities such as pavement rehabilitation, bridge upkeep, signage and lighting maintenance, roadside operations and management of winter storm response. The long-term deal supports consistent service levels across the corridor and allows the operator to plan maintenance cycles in alignment with the expected life of highway assets.
Originally the highway, which was greenlit in 1996 during the Liberal government of Premier Frank McKenna, was to be tolled. However, the government of Progressive Conservative leader Bernard Lord scrapped the highway tolls in 1999, the CBC noted in a 10-year anniversary story of the highway opening.
To maintain the integrity of the P3 agreement and reassure the lenders, the essential structure of the agreement was not changed with the exception of replacing tolls with traffic volume payments (also known as shadow tolls). The agreements were amended to this effect in March 2000.
*The P3 agreement covers a 50-year period. At year 30, and again at year 40, the New Brunswick Highway Corporation (NBHC), a provincial Crown agency, has the option to cancel the agreement by acquiring the highway from Maritime Road Development Corp. at fair market value. If NBHC does not buy the highway after year 30 or year 40, ownership reverts to the province at year 50.
Partners:
Public: New Brunswick Highway Corporation (a provincial Crown agency)
Private: Maritime Road Development Corp. (Dragados FCC, Janin Atlas (owned by VINCI) and Miller Paving)
Awards: National Awards for Innovation & Excellence in P3s' Gold Award in Infrastructure, 2003
