ment equipment, featuring truck and loader mounted plows and snow blow- ers, salters, sanders, deicers, spreaders, and all the other equipment, products, services, and technology used for mov- ing and removing snow and ice. Registration is available at the show’s website: www.ExpoGrandsTravaux.ca. Montreal approves $100 million to build new Île-Bizard bridge The City of Montreal’s executive com- mittee has approved spending $100 mil- lion to build a new bridge between Île-Bizard and the island of Montreal, the Montreal Gazette reports. The funds will also be used to reinforce the existing Jacques-Bizard Bridge, which is the only road connection to the island. In October, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre announced $21.8 million of the bridge work costs will come from the city’s $1.1 billion three-year capital works budget. Municipal council must approve the project, and then the city needs to create a preliminary design, which should be completed this summer. Planning, ap- provals and public consultations, as well as a call for tenders, would happen by 2018, followed by construction in 2018, 2019 and possibly 2020. The new bridge will be built right next to the existing span, the Gazette reports. Work to reinforce the existing bridge should begin this summer. Île-Bizard–Ste-Geneviève borough Mayor Normand Marinacci said the ex- isting bridge’s final fate hasn’t been de- cided yet. “We would prefer to keep it for emergencies, for the cycling path and for pedestrians,” he said. Utilities for Île-Bizard were also installed underneath the bridge, and these would be expen- sive to move if the existing span was de- molished. The Jacques-Bizard Bridge, built in 1966, has three lanes, a bike lane and a sidewalk. Nearly 30,000 vehicles drive over it every day. The new bridge could have four lanes, “which will have the ef- fect of significantly reducing congestion episodes due to maintenance work or in- cidents,” Lionel Perez, the executive committee member responsible for in- frastructure, said in a press release. NEW BRUNSWICK Saint John councillors celebrate signing of $216 million contract for new water treatment system Saint John councillors have cele- brated the signing of a $216 million con- tract for the design, construction and operation of a new water treatment sys- tem by a public-private partnership. “Welcome to a council meeting that is 230 years in the making,” announced Saint John Mayor Mel Norton before reading a lengthy proclamation on the water deal which was promptly ap- proved by council. Port City Water Partners, a consor- tium of eight companies led by Brook- field Financial Securities LP, includes Spain’s Acciona Aqua, North America Construction, SIMO Management Inc., two engineering and consulting firms: AMEC Foster Wheeler, and Stantec, and two local Irving owned companies: FCC Construction and Gulf Operators. The project will feature a water treat- ment plant with a capacity for 75 million litres per day along with the construction or replacement of 20 km of piping. Norton said he expects the federal and provincial governments to pick up “roughly” 50 per cent of the construction costs, although that has yet to be final- ized. A municipal report released to city council says the final funding agreement with the federal Crown corporation P3 Canada will be concluded “over the next few weeks” based on the eligible costs of the project. The report says the $216 million price tag is $40 million less than an estimate in March 2013. Fredericton: Proposed Millidgeville development may be expanded The retail developer behind a phar- macy proposal in Saint John’s Mil- lidgeville neighbourhood plans to add more businesses to the site in future. Plaza Retail REIT of Fredericton has an agreement with the municipality to purchase land at University and Millidge Avenues, CBC has reported. The fire department currently uses much of the property as a training cen- tre. Plaza Retail has applied to re-desig- nate the land from a residential to a retail classification to allow the pharmacy con- struction. CBC says in 2014 another developer, Cobalt Properties, dropped plans for a larger shopping centre in the same area after strong objections from neighbours who were concerned about potential noise, lighting and traffic. The current development proposal in- cludes a half acre parcel, also owned by the city, that is covered by a covenant re- stricting its use to park or green space. That covenant can only be lifted by a pri- vate act of the legislature, and a spokesperson for Plaza Retail reaffirmed this week the company intends to apply to have it lifted, a process expected to take as long as a year. On application documents made pub- lic by the city this week, the parcel is la- belled “future development.” NOVA SCOTIA Membertou arena, shopping complex construction moves ahead The Cape Breton First Nation’s com- munity of Membertou is expanding its business opportunities with two major projects, one to open this summer and the other in 2018, CBC has reported. Construction started in the summer of 2015 on a $19 million sports complex with two NHL sized rinks, a wellness centre and a walking track. “Right now, the roof is being com- pleted and the fitness centre is under construction and the interior is well under way,” Membertou senior adviser Dan Christmas told CBC. “We’re hoping to open in late June early July, and begin commissioning the ice sometime in the month of July.” Christmas said preliminary construc- tion will start this summer on a major re- tail complex, Churchill Crossing, with a mix of big box stores, smaller retailers and other facilities. Road access to the location is already complete. The Canadian Design and Construction Report — March 2016 – 21