Construction on new interchanges and upgrades to existing infrastructure at the junction of Highway 17 and Highway 91 in Delta are set to begin early next year, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Dec. 17, the province announced it had awarded a fixed-price contract to design and build the Highway 91/17 Upgrade Project to Pacific Gateway Constructors General Partnership. The Pacific Gateway Constructors team includes CMI-Hwy 91 Limited Partnership, Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc., BelPacific Excavating and Shoring, and McElhanney Engineering Services Ltd.
The project, which aims to improve travel time and safety for commuters along the highway corridor, includes a combination of improvements to Highway 91, Highway 17 and the Highway 91 Connector, including improvements to Highway 91 at Nordel Interchange, upgrades to the Highway 91 Connector at Nordel Way intersection, a new interchange at Highway 17 and Highway 91 Connector in Sunbury, and a new interchange at River Road connecting to Highway 17.
Major construction works for the project will start in early 2020, with completion scheduled for 2023.
Once complete, these upgrades will provide increased highway efficiency and an easier commute for residents and commercial vehicles through better merge lanes, additional interchanges and improved acceleration lanes.
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The project is part of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s $260-million Highway 91/17 and Deltaport Way Upgrade Project package. Following the procurement process for the design-build agreement, the project budget was increased from $245.2 million to $260.2 million to reflect a variety of factors including current market conditions, according to a ministry press release.
Funding for the project comes via the national infrastructure component of the federal government’s New Building Canada Fund, as well as the Province of British Columbia and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. The Tsawwassen First Nation also contributed $5.2 million to fund the recently-completed 27B Avenue upgrades component of the project.
The 27B Avenue component, which aimed to improve access to recently completed industrial and commercial developments in the area as well as to the Canadian Border Service Agency’s container examination facility, included a merge lane that improves access from 27B Avenue to Deltaport Way, as well as road widening and upgrades on 27B Avenue between Deltaport Way and 41B Street.
Also included in the Highway 91/17 and Deltaport Way Upgrade Project are intersection improvements at Highway 17 at 80th Street in Tilbury — upgrading the connection from 80th Street to Highway 17 westbound to improve merging and reduce queuing on 80th — on-ramp improvements to Deltaport Way at 27B Avenue to providing a smoother, safer merge for westbound traffic.
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