On October 28^th, VINCI Concessions celebrated the opening of the bypass around the city of Regina, the capital of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. This major event brought together many public officials, including Scott Moe, the Premier of Saskatchewan. Representing VINCI, Xavier Huillard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Highways, and Pierre Anjolras, President of Eurovia, travelled to Canada to attend the event, showing the increasing importance of Canada and North America in the Group’s international expansion.

The Regina Bypass, the biggest infrastructure project in the history of Saskatchewan, was delivered in just four years. Four years to build 37 new kms of roads, upgrade 24 km, and deliver 12 new interchanges and 33 new bridges and viaducts – an investment of C$1.9 billion (around €1.3 billion).

Meeting the tight planning was made possible through activating a great number of synergies, including primarily the close and effective partnership between the Government of Saskatchewan and private companies. Back in 2015, the Government of Saskatchewan chose the PPP model to deliver this major project, combining expertise from the public and private sector to design, finance, build and operate this new road for the next 30 years.

Originating from a spirit of partnership, the Regina Bypass project fully leveraged the complementarity and team spirit fostered between the various entities. This dimension was so important that it was used to form its slogan – “One project, one team”. The project also gave rise to international synergies between major companies from France, Canada (Graham) and the US (Parsons). There were further synergies within the VINCI Group, combining the expertise of VINCI Concessions, Eurovia, VINCI Construction (VINCI Construction Terrassement, Soletanche Freyssinet) and VINCI Energies.

Over four years of construction work, these synergies proved to be highly valuable – the project was delivered on schedule and within budget, despite difficult weather conditions and significant technical challenges. The Regina Bypass was also built to the highest safety standards as a permanent campaign was run to raise awareness among the construction teams. Another satisfaction driver was the strong relations established among all stakeholders in this major greenfield project, in particular with the First Nations. In his inaugural speech, Xavier Huillard said, “today, as we celebrate the end of construction, we should measure our success not only by the quality of the infrastructure, or the fact it was delivered on schedule. We should first and foremost concentrate on the success of a project that put people and communities at the heart of its focus.”

Shortly after the end of the inaugural speech, vehicles began to drive along the new motorway for the first time. Premier Scott Moe himself got behind the wheel of an articulated lorry. This perfectly encompasses the positive contribution the Regina Bypass will make to the local economy, improving the connection between Saskatchewan, which is one of the largest provincial exporters in Canada, and the rest of the country. By opening a more fluid and reliable way to access the three main roads in the region – the Trans-Canada Highway, highway 6 and highway 11 – the bypass will facilitate economic growth in the province. According to a study published by the Government of Saskatchewan, the new bypass will increase the province’s GDP by over 940 million CAD.

Further to boosting the local economy and creating jobs, the project also had a major impact on road safety. At the opening ceremony, Randy Schultz, Fire Chief of the White City Fire Department, a town 10 kilometers east of Regina, spoke of a “glorious day” for road safety. The number of accidents has fallen considerably since the first section of the bypass came into service in 2017. “We haven’t had to use our Jaws of Life for two years now,” continued Randy Schultz.

The bypass, which will be operated and maintained to the highest standards by VINCI Concessions via its subsidiary VINCI Highways, and Eurovia via its subsidiary Carmacks, until 2049, will help improving mobility and economic growth each day.

“The idea of partnership was at the heart of the Regina Bypass project. It is a ground-breaking public-private partnership that brings together major companies from France, Canada and the US, along with over 100 businesses from the province of Saskatchewan, under the supervision of public authorities. This effective collaboration, both local and international, was essential to successfully complete the project within the tight schedule, on budget and in the face of a number of challenges. It is an important step forward for mobility in Saskatchewan”, said Nicolas Notebaert.