Our experience includes all manners of roadway planning and design, from urban collectors and highway interchanges to rural roads and access roads, from airport traffic circulation to shopping mall access.
We undertake transportation projects from the initial traffic planning stages, through the functional planning/preliminary design stage, to detailed design and construction supervision.
Our services include:
Transportation Planning & Studies: Traffic Planning studies can include a wide variety of topics and level of detail. In general, these studies would be prepared at a high level to identify the long term road (intersection, sidewalk, pathway, bikelane) network pattern and requirements.
Transportation Impact Assessment: When a development is proposed, a Transportation Impact Assessment (Traffic Impact Assessment or TIA) is often required to determine whether the existing roads, intersections, sidewalks, and bike lanes adjacent to the development have capacity to handle the additional traffic. If the infrastructure requires improvement, the TIA will define these improvements so that they can be adequately planned for through the development process.
Functional Planning: Functional Planning is carried out as preliminary design for roadways and intersections. Functional Planning is used to ensure that adequate space is designated for road rights-of-way to accommodate future traffic volumes.
Detailed Design: Detailed Design drawings are prepared prior to tendering and constructing a new roadway or intersection or prior to a roadway or intersection upgrade. The detailed design drawings require review and approval from the road authority and tell the authority and contractor exactly how the road will be built. The design must prioritize road safety, accommodate the projected traffic, and also consider natural features such as wetlands, hills, and existing and proposed utilities.
Urban and Rural Roadway Infrastructure: Urban roads are generally developed within Cities, Towns, and Villages and are usually paved and include curbs and sidewalks. Rural roads are generally developed in rural areas and may be paved or gravelled, and usually include a roadside ditch with no sidewalks.
Parking Layouts and Assessments: At the development permit stage, developments are often required to demonstrate that they will provide an adequate number of parking stalls. The number of stalls that is required can be based on local bylaw requirements or on observation of similar sites, and can be adjusted based on the specific site use and location (ie. mixed use development, in close proximity to transit etc.)
Intersections: Intersections are an important part of the transportation network. Intersection analysis and design is carried out to both reduce driver delay and promote driver and pedestrian safety.
Highways: Highways are generally higher speed roadways used to provide for the safe, efficient movement of people and goods. In Alberta, Alberta Transportation is responsible for planning the highway network and for the network’s design, construction and maintenance. Through private development, we obtain approvals from Alberta Transportation and carry out intersection or highway upgrades. We also do work directly for Alberta Transportation to carry out highway upgrades.
Arterial Roads: Arterial roads are high speed roads that deliver traffic between the Freeways and the Local and Collector roads where property can be accessed.
Collector Roads: Collector roads are moderate capacity roads that deliver traffic between the Arterial and Local roads while also providing direct property access.
Local Roads: Local roads are low capacity roads that provide direct property access and are not generally designed to attract through traffic.
Pedestrian Crossings: Pedestrians are always part of the transportation system and safe interactions between pedestrians and other modes of transportation requires careful design of crossings.
Bicycle and Walking Paths: In urban areas, bicycle and walking paths are now being integrated at every level of development, from high level planning to individual development permits.
Bus Terminals: Bus terminals are an important part of the transit and transportation system. Their design should be user friendly, separate vehicle, bus, and pedestrian traffic, and incorporate good signage and way-finding.
Construction Engineering & Management: We can assist the owner or developer with entering into a fair and reasonable construction contract with a capable contractor through tendering or owner negotiation. During construction, we monitor the work to confirm that it complies with the detailed engineering design drawings and the requirements of the local municipality. We also administer the construction contract to certify payment to the contractor as the work has been completed.