Transportation Services

Principal Service Activity Areas Offered By R. J. Burnside & Associates Limited

Burnside's principal service areas are delineated in the following sections. For additional information please click on any of the highlighted references at the end of each category

Transportation Infrastructure - Innovations and Best Practices

Burnside's technology experts and transportation professionals continuously explore ways of applying the latest technologies and methods to deliver innovative, cost-effective transportation solutions to our clients. Utilizing our in-house developed Road Asset Management System software and geospatial technologies (e.g. GIS, GPS, photogrammetric mapping), Burnside is able to improve the efficiency and quality of our planning, design and management of transportation projects. In addition, Burnside monitors new developments through published best practices, such as InfraGuide, which review technical solutions for planning new municipal roads and extending the life of existing ones. Burnside's innovative services include the following:

• Digital base mapping, digital terrain, and modeling the creation of 3-D simulations and visualizations
• Satellite and airborne remote sensing analysis
• In-house developed software for asset management including roads (GIS / ArcMap based)

Class Environmental Assessments

Burnside offers a multidisciplinary team of engineers and environmental planners to address the complex, and often competing, interests inherent within the environmental assessment of transportation projects. Stakeholders are brought together in the earliest stages of the project in a collaborative process that ultimately leads to the selection of a preferred alternative that addresses safety, mobility, and the preservation of scenic, aesthetic, historic, environmental and other community values. Working within the processes established by the Class Environmental Assessment for Road Projects (Municipal Engineers Association) or the Class Environmental Assessment for Provincial Transportation Facilities (Ministry of Transportation), our team is able to provide the following services:

• Management of the environmental assessment and approvals processes
• Analysis of environmental impacts including those related to surface water and groundwater resources, wildlife, fish and plants, environmentally sensitive areas, ecosystems, erosion and sediment control, aesthetics, land use and socio-economic factors
• Management of specialist consultants including those for the assessment of noise, archaeological and natural heritage, micro-climate and air quality
• Development of mitigation and/or compensation measures to respect the environmental constraints identified
• Public consultation programs and agency liaison using public information centers, advisory committees, focus groups, design charrettes, workshops, surveys, presentations, consensus building, alternative dispute resolution, facilitation and partnering
• Report preparation
• Agency approvals

Transportation Planning, Road and Bridge Needs Studies

Burnside planners and engineers provide the services to study road and bridge needs, to assist operating authorities in formulating plans for capital improvements and operational strategies. This transportation planning assists our clients in achieving their long range plans, optimizing their operating efficiencies and enhancing their communities. Our services include the following:

• Feasibility studies and functional planning
• Rehabilitation and capital project planning and management including the development of our Road Asset Management System (GIS based, Burnside developed software) for the evaluation and prioritization of capital and operational expenditures
• Assistance in the formulation of policy and strategic planning
• Structural investigations, inspections and condition surveys, including assessment of bridge load limit posting
• Peer review

Traffic Impact Studies (Site Development, Master Servicing Strategies, Official Plans, Parking Studies)

Burnside provides various services to assess traffic impacts, and allow for proper planning of transportation facilities providing innovative solutions with consideration of safety, traffic operations, site access, transit operations and signal installation. Our services include the following:

• Travel demand modeling and forecasting
• Computerized traffic impact analysis using software such as HCS 2000, Synchro, SimTraffic and CCG/CALC 2
• Intersection capacity analysis and optimization
• Site access and circulation
• Road network analysis for Master Plans
• Assessment of truck routes and associated impacts and regulations.
• Origin-destination surveys
• Parking demand, layout of parking facilities to meet both functional and aesthetic objectives
• Peer review

Road Design - Highways, Connecting Links, Arterial Roads, Local Roads

Burnside design engineers, technologists and technicians form a team to deliver road design services that provide transportation systems that optimize operating efficiency, minimize the consumption of land and other capital resources and support the achievement of the client's design objectives of cost-effectiveness, efficiency, safety and flexibility. Our services include the following:

• Feasibility, conceptual, functional and detailed road design
• Stormwater management, erosion control and environmental designs
• Value Engineering
• Safety Considerations including clear zone assessment, pedestrian requirements, driver compliance surveys, construction zone requirements
• Assistance on property acquisition issues
• Coordination of specialized investigations (e.g. geotechnical) and utility relocation

• South Arterial Road, Town of Orangeville
• County Road 44, County of Simcoe
• Pretty River Parkway, Town of Collingwood
• Kirby Road and King Vaughan Road Reconstruction, City Vaughan
• Banff Drive, Bigwin Drive and St. Andrew's Court, Town of Aurora
• Blue Grass Boulevard Road Reconstruction, Town of Richmond Hill
• Gentry Crescent Road Reconstruction, Town of Richmond Hill
• County Road 28, County of Simcoe
• George Bolton Parkway, Town of Caledon
• Clarkson GO Station Expansion, Mississauga
• County Road 22, County of Simcoe

Bridge and Culvert Design

Burnside provides design services to provide innovative structural solutions for bridge and culvert works including the following:

• Feasibility analysis and detailed design for Highway and road structures, pedestrian structures, railway structures
• Watershed Analysis and Hydraulic Studies
• Earth-retaining structures
• Falsework and temporary structures, cofferdams, and ground stabilization works.
• Structural design reports
• Structural rehabilitation planning and design; Application of advanced materials and repair technologies
• Heritage structure restoration
• Cost/benefit analyses, life cycle analyses and constructability analyses
• Structural evaluation and code verification
• Shop drawing reviews

• Niagara Escarpment Suspension Bridge, Town of the Blue Mountains

Signalization and Illumination Designs

Burnside provides design services for the signalization and illumination of intersections including the following:

• Computerized traffic impact analysis using software such as HCS 2000, Synchro, SimTraffic and CCG/CALC 2
• Detailed design and analysis of lane requirements, traffic and pedestrian signals and illumination

Streetscape Design and Traffic Calming

Burnside provides services for the design of streetscapes and traffic calming to address community concerns related to transportation facilities. Operational considerations are also assessed in developing the preferred facility designs to meet competing objectives. Representative Projects:

• Clarence Street, City of Vaughan

Pedestrian Walkway and Bikeway Systems

Burnside can provide assistance in various areas related to the economic and regulatory framework that affects transportation services including the following:

• Lifecycle costing for infrastructure expenditures and cost-benefit evaluation of capital and operational options
• Assessment of Municipal Development Charges and distribution of infrastructure costs among stakeholders
• Applications for funding through special government programs (e.g. COMRIFF)
• Development of standards, policies and procedures

Contract Administration and Construction Inspection Services

Burnside provides construction services, through our seasoned inspectors and specialist contract administrators. Our construction services ensure that the designs are effectively and efficiently implemented, that communications are maintained and that the owner's risks are minimized. Where practical, our clients have the flexibility to supplement their staff with our construction personnel, to minimize overall inspection costs. Burnside's construction services include the following:

• Preparation of tender documents, drawings and specifications
• Quantity surveying and cost estimating
• Project scheduling; Management of construction staging operations and detours
• Preparation of Quality Control Plans; Quality control inspections and assurance
• Contract management, change management and construction supervision/monitoring
• Coordination of specialist testing services
• Mediation and dispute resolution

Alternative Project Delivery Processes (e.g. Design-Build, Design-Build-Own-Operate-Transfer, Public-Private-Partnerships)

For some projects, it is possible to achieve faster, more cost-effective and more efficient performance by using a method of project delivery that is different than the traditional bid-build approach. Using alternative project delivery processes, our clients can achieve schedule compression, cost reduction, reduced claims and disputes, and the integration of new technologies. Burnside has acted as the compliance consultant for the owner on a number of design/build projects, ensuring that a single supplier is fully accountable and that the facility design and construction meet the end-use requirements specified. Burnside's services include:

• Preparation of performance specifications for design-build projects and proposal evaluation to ensure that the owner's financial, functional and aesthetic objectives are met