Ontario, the province which is the largest user of P3s, has been busy already this year, having awarded preferred-bidder status to two projects: * The East Rail Maintenance Facility, being built in Whitby, about 50 kilometres east of Toronto. According to a release from Infrastructure Ontario, the facility will "support GO Transit's planned service expansion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area." The contract was awarded to a multi-member consortium, with the developer being Plenary Group, Kiewit and Bird Capital. TD Securities was the financial adviser to the winning consortium. The cost of the project was not disclosed.
* Highway 407 East Phase 11. This week, the Blackbird Infrastructure Group was named as the preferred proponent to design, build, finance and maintain the project. That project will extend the highway 22 kilometres further east from Oshawa to Clarington while providing a 10-kilometre north south link from the 407 to Highway 401. The cost of the project was not disclosed but construction of Phase 1 is set to be completed by year-end. Holcim and Cintra Infraestructuras are the developers on Phase 11.
The original 407 Highway is one of the country's most famous roads: it was built by the provincial government, sold for double the cost because the government wanted to balance its budget prior to he 1999 election. It is now worth considerably more, and is a veritable licence to print money because no limits were placed on its ability to charge and collect tolls. Ontario seems to have learned from that decision: both Phase 1 and 11 will be publicly owned.