Supporting our cities
The City of Barrie, one of Ontario’s largest cities, is home to more than 150,000 residents and has continued to see significant growth since 2017. The city’s south end is a commercial and industrial employment hub that is home to companies and corporations that rely heavily on transportation and connectivity to operate their businesses. As the city’s population and employment rates grew, the south end experienced bottlenecks, causing traffic to re-route up to five kilometres north or south of Highway 400.
To relieve this congestion and improve east and west bound traffic flows across the highway, the city committed $76 million to improve its existing infrastructure. The overall project scope included:
- construction of the Harvie Road / Big Bay Point Road crossing over Highway 400;
- removal of the existing railway crossing on Big Bay Point Road between Bayview Drive and Fairview Drive;
- the addition of buffered bike lanes and sidewalks along both sides of the crossing;
- a future roadway expansion from five to seven lanes between Bryne Drive and Bayview Drive; and
- the replacement of existing sanitary sewer, watermain, and water and sewer services from the mains to the property line along Harvie Road.
Engaged and experienced
As the City of Barrie prepared to take on this long-term, complex project, it sought the support of an experienced project management team that could supplement its internal capacity and see the project through to completion.
The city selected Colliers Project Leaders to act on its behalf to manage and oversee the project. Our team worked closely with city staff, the design consultant, and Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) to manage the design, contract administration and inspection services.
To prepare for construction, we took the lead on facilitating the MTO review and approvals process to ensure all phases of the project were ready and approved early. We also facilitated the development of the required legal and cost-sharing agreements between the city and MTO. Working with the design consultant, our team managed the design of the new crossing, road extensions, utility relocations, culvert crossings, and more. At the same time, we also held public information meetings, meetings with local business groups and council, and prepared briefs for coordination with MTO staff.
Located on the traditional homeland of the Huron Wendat Nation, our team engaged the Nation’s Chief and Council in consultations before moving forward with construction. This was an important step as the land is flagged as an historically sensitive area, which sparked the need for an archeological dig that produced more than 5,000 artifacts.
Once construction began, our team worked alongside the contract administrator and stakeholders to oversee the work, provide technical advice, and offer solutions to ensure the project stayed on track. We also identified opportunities to accelerate the project schedule where possible.
Open to traffic
The city held a virtual ceremony on June 28, 2021 to celebrate the official opening of the Harvie Road Crossing. Now traffic, residents, cyclists and business owners alike can travel through the south end of the city with ease. The additional lanes and new crossing will support the city’s growth and transit connectivity for years to come, while industrial facility owners and employees benefit from the added accessibility.
