Caledon is a town of approximately 80,000 people located northwest of Toronto in the Regional Municipality of Peel. The town has experienced significant growth in the past 10 years, and their 2024 Official Plan forecasts the town’s population to increase to 300,000 by 2051.

The town’s population growth and associated traffic has impacted its existing bridge infrastructure. The town conducts regular assessments of its bridges to assess their condition and safety. In 2021, the town retained Associated Engineering to assess four pedestrian bridges and two culverts to determine their condition and the need for rehabilitation or replacement. Project Manager, Sarvejit Nagi in our Toronto office, tells us, “After the condition assessment, we identified that Duffy’s Lane Bridge and Mill Lane Bridge on the Caledon Trailway needed maintenance.”

The Caledon Trailway follows a Canadian National Rail line built in 1877 and later abandoned. The 35 kilometre Trailway runs from the hamlet of Terra Cotta to the community of Palgrave in Caledon. Today, the multi-use trail is heavily used by the public for cycling, walking, and horseback riding.

Duffy’s Lane Bridge and Mill Lane Bridge have a length of 12.9 metres and 7.9 metres respectively, and both are 2.17 metres wide with short railings. The Town sought to rehabilitate the structures according to the Ontario Structure Inspection Manual (OSIM) reports and make the bridges structurally safe. In addition, the Town wished to replace two culverts.

“We completed preliminary design and prepared life-cycle costs, which showed that rehabilitating the bridges was more cost effective than replacing them. We subsequently prepared the detailed design for the rehabilitation, as well as applications for permit approvals, and tender documents for four of the structures.”

Without available record drawings, the team conducted surveys to capture dimensions and confirmed the design with field measurements and survey information.

Bridge Engineer, Jim Thomas, says, “We designed higher bridge railings, 1.37 metres tall, to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians. As well, the bridges were widened to three metres to accommodate maintenance vehicles.”

Bridge Engineer, Shuhao Chen, tells us, “To improve the durability of the bridges, we specified that the timber for main structural members be Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF), Hemlock Fir, Grade No. 2 or better.” In addition, the team specified that connections use galvanized steel lag bolts with predrilling holes to prevent timber cracking and the deck boards were fastened with GSK RSS Screws, rather than nails.”

The Town awarded the construction contract for Duffy’s Lane and Mill Lane bridges in May 2024 and retained Associated Engineering to conduct contract administration and site inspection. We also reviewed the traffic plan and coordinated the construction with adjacent road construction contractors. The team also worked with the Town to provide notices and detour maps to trail users.

Caledon’s Chief Administrative Officer, Nathan Hyde said, “In improving accessibility from the trailway to local businesses, we are supporting our strategic priority of community vitality and livability, enriching the vibrancy and liveliness of our hamlets and villages.”

Key Associated Engineering staff included Sarvejit Nagi, Shuhao Chen, Jim Thomas, Catherine Du, Hannah Murphy, Don McBrayne, and Navjot Dureja.

The post Replacing and rehabilitating structures increases safety of Caledon Trailway first appeared on Associated Engineering.

The City of Port Moody has a population of approximately 33,500 residents (2021) and is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District in British Columbia. St. Johns Street is the main traffic corridor through Port Moody and originally had narrow sidewalks and no provisions for cyclists. The City sought to integrate active transportation facilities for all ages and abilities along this constrained corridor.

Public engagement confirmed the need for better walking and cycling infrastructure, the need to maintain access to local properties and businesses, as well as the importance of trees and landscaping to the community.

Associated Engineering served as the lead consultant for this active transportation project, led by our Vancouver-based transportation planning and traffic engineering group, with support from our infrastructure group and Red Deer-based landscape architecture staff. Our services included corridor and active transportation planning, traffic analysis, safety review, a HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lane utilization study, stakeholder and public engagement, concept development, preliminary and detailed design, and tender and construction services, including contract administration and site inspection.

Associated undertook a conceptual and functional multi-modal transportation planning and engineering study along St. Johns Street from Ioco Road to Albert Street. Project Manager, Ana Varhaug, tells us, “We explored the potential removal of the existing HOV lanes, and repurposing the space for active modes. One of the challenges was that HOV-lane removal is unprecedented and required buy-in from TransLink, as St. Johns is part of their Major Road Network.”

Our transportation planning and traffic engineering team developed decision criteria based on HOV-lane warrants, traffic operations, and transit performance data and developed a rationale for replacing the HOV lanes with active transportation facilities.

This evidence-based approach was able to concisely demonstrate that the existing HOV lanes are under-utilized and identified how the HOV-lane removal benefits sustainable transportation modes, thus supporting TransLink mode split objectives and the City of Port Moody’s Master Transportation Plan.

Associated supported the City in collaborating with TransLink to address their requirements. Monique Beaudry, National Discipline Lead, Transportation Planning, tells us, “As part of this work, we completed a review of the study corridor including traffic forecasting, traffic micro-simulation modelling and analysis using Vistro, and a safety assessment. As well, we developed initial concepts and prepared an HOV Lane Removal Report for stakeholder review.”

In Phase Two of the project, Associated’s team developed conceptual options for active transportation facilities on the study corridor. The preferred solution was selected through an options evaluation process and in consultation with key stakeholders and the public. Associated helped to facilitate the engagement meetings and provided engagement materials.

The project was endorsed by Port Moody’s City Council and proceeded to preliminary and detailed design and construction of active transportation infrastructure for all ages and abilities from the Barnet Highway to Moody Street, approximately 1.3 kilometres in length.

Associated prepared the detailed design, including the addition of bike lanes and multi-use pathways, widening of existing sidewalks, the addition of rain gardens into curb bulges, raised crosswalks, retaining wall design, streetlighting, landscaping (including streetscaping), and signage and pavement markings.

Associated delivered tender period services, and conducted site inspections and contract administration duties. Civil Engineer, Artem Zaporozhets, explains, “Construction was completed in August 2024, providing users with safer and more accessible active transportation connections and improved transit access.”

Subconsultants supporting the project delivery included Evolve Traffic Solutions (traffic modelling), Braun (geotechnical), Diamondhead (arborist), and AES (electrical).

Associated’s key personnel on the project include Ana Varhaug, Monique Beaudry, Breanna Jackson, Artem Zaporozhets, Chris Cheng, Alex Hackney, and Jason Bennett.

The post Infrastructure improvements provide greater safety along Port Moody’s busy St. Johns Street first appeared on Associated Engineering.