Burnside was retained by the City of Guelph to initiate a Schedule C Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) for improvements to Niska Road from Downey Road to the City limits. Segments of the road and bridge over the Speed River required remediation or replacement in order to meet current and future traffic and safety demands of the corridor. Proposed improvements included replacement of the existing Bailey bridge over the Speed River and improvements to the Downey Road intersection. Niska Road is a single lane collector road with an existing single lane bridge operating under a 5-tonne load restriction and a posted speed limit of 50 km/hr. It has a rural cross-section and narrow gravel shoulders.

This project yielded a high volume of community involvement, requiring advanced consultation efforts. In addition to standard consultation including distribution of project notification to interested agencies, aboriginal organizations, stakeholders and Public Information Centres (PIC), facilitation of a Community Workshop and regular meetings with a focused Community Working Group took place to increase community representation and involvement. An additional post-PIC online survey was used to further gather public input.

Study results and consultation were used to evaluate and select the preferred alternative solution. Mitigation measures were established based on potential impacts.

Services Provided

• Environmental Assessment Expertise
• Schedule C Municipal Class EA
• Traffic Impact and Origin Destination Surveys
• Cultural Heritage Evaluation Report (CHER)
• Detailed Terrestrial and Aquatic Studies and Tree Inventory
• Evaluation of Environmental Impacts
• Public, Review Agency and Aboriginal Consultation
• Public Information Centre
• Community Working Group Facilitation
• Preliminary Design of Road and Bridge
• Detailed Design of Road and Bridge
• Ongoing Municipal and Agency Consultation to Ensure Compliance