Quarterly Everything roads since 1894. Issue 01 / October 2021

QuarterlyIssue 01 / October 2021Everything roads since 1894.

“If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.”

-Dolly Parton

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Good Roads’ Podcast features guests from different levels in the municipal sector, discussing ideas, solutions and new technology shaping communities. From policies to operations, hosts Jared and Thomas ask the hard questions affecting municipalities.

Listen in at OGRA.org/MilestonesPodcast

Podcast

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Good Roads Quarterly / Issue 01 1

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Issue 01 / October 2021Everything roads since 1894.

“I ran on a slogan of 'Yes is the answer. Now, what's the question?'”

— Joe PrestonMayor, City of St. Thomas

St. Thomas / In conversation with Mayor Joe Preston.

Crosswalks / Crosswalks have been dangerous. New technology may fix that.

The Future / Ten Things Poised to ChangeOur Roads.

Swindon / The Manic Charms of Swindon’s Magic Roundabout.

As municipal insurance rates sklyrocket across Ontario, municipalities are left wondering why. Recently GRQ spoke with Jessica Jaremchuk, Intact Public Entities', Director of Risk Managment Services to understand what is happening.

What's Driving Municipal Insurance Rates?


Issue 01 / October 2021

facebook.com/ontariogoodroads@ont_good_roadswww.linkedin.com/company/ontario-good-roads-association

22-1525 Cornwall RoadOakville, ON L6J 0B2289-291-6472

Board of Directors

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Ontario / Why you need a sustainable soil management plan.

EditorScott Butler

SubeditorsThomas BarakatRachel Swiednicki

Design and ArtJared LeMay

Production LeadJared LeMay

Special Thanks Lucas AbteyTony LeightonFidel PeñaBrittany Waldner

Disclaimer: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of Good Roads. Every effort has been made to contact and properly credit copyright works. Please contact us directly regard-ing corrections of omissions.

Nota bene: All interviews in Good Roads Quarterly are edited for clarity and length.

For advertising opportunities or partner-ship projects, please email [email protected]. Submissions or content inquiries can be directed to [email protected].

For 127 years, the Ontario Good Roads Association – now simply “Good Roads” – has been dedicated to improv-ing municipal roads and associated infrastructure in Ontario. Today, Good Roads has more than 450 municipal and First Nations members. We exist to connect our members to each other, to other levels of government, to academia and to relevant private sector interests. We provide our members with training, knowledge, political advocacy, and solu-tions to their most pressing problems.

Good Roads Quarterly is published four times a year by Good Roads.

Designed and printed in Ontario.

Queen's Park / The MOMS Act: A Step in the Right Direction.

Ontario /Railway Safety Month: Regulation extensions are broken down for GRQ readers.

Everything roads since 1894.

PresidentDave Burton, Municipality ofHighlands EastFirst Vice PresidentPaul Schoppmann, Municipality of St.-CharlesSecond Vice PresidentJohn Parsons, City of LondonThird Vice PresidentBryan Lewis, Town of Halton HillsPast PresidentRick Harms, City of Thunder BayDirectorsMelissa Abercrombie, County of OxfordPaul Ainslie, City of TorontoChris Angelo, City of Quinte WestAntoine Boucher, Municipality ofEast FerrisNazzareno Capano, City of TorontoAakash Desai, Municipality ofGrey HighlandsKelly Elliott, Municipality ofThames CentreCheryl Fort, Township of HornepayneDonna Jebb, Town of New TecumsethTravis Wilson, Township of Minden Hills

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https://twitter.com/Ont_Good_Roads

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A Look 127 Years in the Making.By: Scott ButlerExecutive Director - Good Roads

Welcome. Join us as we cut the ribbon on the first issue of Good

Roads Quarterly, our sharp new publication. Recently, Good Roads revealed our new sophisticated

and forward-looking brand. This is a look that has been 127 years in the making.

Our rebranding initiative produced all the usual ele-ments. New logo. New typefaces. New website. It also includ-ed an edit of our name. The Ontario Good Roads Association was trimmed back to its essential elements to become sim-ply Good Roads. That is after all what our friends have always called us. Toss in our new tagline – “Everything roads since 1894” – and we now had a look that captured and reflected everything that makes Good Roads distinct.

The Good Roads Quarterly magazine you are holding– GRQ for short – is our effort to bring this look to print.

Here is what you need to know about GRQ.

This is a magazine built on the simple premise of speak-ing to the concerns and professional needs of all 444 On-tario municipalities as they build and maintain 21st-century municipal transportation systems. At the heart of GRQ lies Good Roads’ one-of-a-kind personality. Solutions-oriented. Helpful. Clever. Curious. Interested and interesting.

GRQ is firmly anchored in the geography and spirit of Ontario. From Cornwall to Kenora, and from Moosonee to Pelee Island, as well as all points in between, when it comes to the ideas and solutions municipalities need, we have you covered.

At the same time, the GRQ team is plugged into what is happening beyond Ontario. GRQ will showcase the best and brightest of a sector during a period of widespread, once-in-

a-lifetime change. This publication will showcase the ideas and innovations that are driving change in the sector more broadly regardless of where they are happening in the world.

In this issue we sit down with St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston. Maclean’s Magazine recently declared St. Thomas the best place to live in Ontario as well as the third best com-munity in Canada. Mayor Preston shares the ingredients that went into making this community in southwestern Ontario a place that is on the move.

We know, and Mayor Preston reminded us, that when infrastructure works well, everything else follows. With that idea and our rebrand in mind, we turn our attention to the idea of design more broadly. We look at the best public works, roadway and infrastructure futuristic designs.

We also take a dive into a conversation with Jessica Jaremchuk of Intact Insurance to better understand the im-pact that a tight insurance market is having on road opera-tions particularly when the snow starts to fly.

Finally, we pay a brief visit across the pond to look at the traffic management madness that is the Swindon Magic Roundabout in England and ask if something so counterin-tuitive could possible work here in Ontario.

If you enjoy what you see and read here, I encourage you to tune into the conversations taking place on the Good Roads Podcast. Similarly, subscribe to our new bi-weekly newsletter, the Good Roads Bulletin. Details on both can be found at www.goodroads.ca.

As always, I welcome the chance to hear from you. To share your thoughts, ideas and feedback, please reach out on [email protected].

01 / Up Front


02 / Feature

In ConversationPhoto: Stephanie Brown/Facebook


In ConversationJoe Preston, Mayor of the City of St. Thomas.By: Scott Butler

Earlier in 2021, Maclean’s named the City of St Thomas (pop. 39,000) the best place to live in Ontario, third behind only Mar-itime capitals Halifax and Charlottetown. Maclean’s weighed nine factors such as affordability, weather, crime, taxes, and community. The same report also named St. Thomas one of the best places in Canada to work remotely.

These accolades were not outliers. In fact, few commu-nities anywhere can point to the string of recognition that City of St. Thomas has enjoyed recently. In February 2021 real es-tate website, Zoocasa, called St. Thomas the number place in Canada to purchase a home for less than the national average price. This followed similar recognition in 2018. In 2017, the city was selected as one of Canada's coolest downtown areas.

Good Roads has long known St. Thomas was a place to be since it was the original home of Good Roads. The founder of the Good Roads movement in Canada, Archie Campbell was St. Thomas’s city engineer and the first Superintendent of Transportation for Ontario.

Recently GRQ caught up with Joe Preston, the affable Mayor and former Member of Parliament for the City to see what all the fuss is about.

GRQWhy do you think there has been so much focus placed

on St. Thomas?

Mayor Joe Preston First of all its location. We are in that sweet spot in south-

ern Ontario that's ten minutes from Lake Erie and in the middle of the region’s transportation corridors. We have great recre-ational offerings in the middle of an industrial heartland that is focused on the automotive industry but is also quickly diver-sifying. Just recently a new corrugated cardboard factory has located here as well as a laminated wood beam manufacturer. Great big logs from Northern Ontario go in the back door of a plant and they go out the front door as laminated beams to be used in the construction boom taking place across Canada.

GRQWhat has been the impact of growth on St. Thomas?

Mayor Joe Preston In the last two or three years close to 1,000 new homes

a year were built here. In 1997, the City was about 25,000 residents. The next census will show us over 40,000. But we can't just build homes. We also have to increase industry. This growth means that we have to build roads and add rec-reational amenities that people would expect moving into a town of 40,000. This includes new restaurants, new shopping. We have also put fiber optic cable throughout most of our city. We're really trying to grow ‘smart’ so that we don't lose that small town feel.

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GRQEconomic development, residential and commercial

growth aren't exactly unique to St Thomas. What's the City’s the secret sauce?

Mayor Joe PrestonFirst, we have available land and a great group of build-

ers who share our vision. This year we're going to issue an-other 1000 building permits for single family homes. But we've are also working to bring multi-unit family dwellings to market. At the same there isn't an empty factory in town. Industry is growing.

GRQHow has growth impacted St. Thomas’s road network?

Mayor Joe Preston As most communities grew, they simply add streets. We

are always asking what growth will mean and how will it be handled. Some of our major construction projects this year are widening and strengthening some of our major thorough-fares. On city streets we have incorporated a number of more modern solutions like roundabouts to keep traffic moving.

GRQThe map for St Thomas transit is far more comprehen-

sive than one would expect. How has the city made this work?

Mayor Joe Preston I ran on a slogan of “Yes is the answer. Now, what's the

question?” Transit was one of the things that I looked at as a small business owner. I had staff that could not use our transit system because they could not get home from work. It quit running at six o'clock at night. It didn't run Sundays. To be a modern city we've got to have seven day a week transit. So we expanded hours of service. We've also added an on-call transit system. And we only use small 18-passenger buses.

GRQWhat does the future hold for St. Thomas?

Mayor Joe Preston We need to be able to get people without cars back and

forth regionally. About 4000 people drive between London and St. Thomas everyday. If we could get a regional transpor-tation system then that would be a great next step.

02 / Feature

The City of St. Thomas is excited to announce the opening of the Southdale Line Roundabout! Photo City of St. Thomas, Ontario/Facebook

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What's Driving Municipal Insurance Rates?

It has been well established that municipal insurance rates have been escalating for years. Significant increases have given way to historic spikes. Small communities in particular are seeing premiums go up by more than 100 per cent year-over-year. While this may not be top of mind for residents, the realities of insuring municipalities in 2021 has real world consequences. This includes the obvious service cuts and tax hikes but also could see municipalities decreasing levels of service and becoming more hawkish about by-law enforcement. Good Roads’ Thomas Barakat and Jared LeMay recently sat down with Jessica Jaremuchuk, Director of Risk Management Services at Intact Public Entities (formerly Frank Cowan Company) to discuss the factors driving these unprec-edented increases.


By Thomas Barakat and Jared LeMay, Good Roads Podcast What's Driving

Municipal Insurance Rates?


“As rates increase municipalities should go to their insurance companies to see how they can help with risk management. This is especially true for if you're a municipality that doesn't have the luxury of a risk management department or a claims support. Use the services that insurers offer because you're paying them that premium.”

- Jessica JaremchukIntact Public Entities

GRQ Walk us through what is happening in the municipal in-

surance market.

Jessica JaremchukThe rising premiums that we are seeing are not just a

municipal issue. This is worldwide. It is crosses all lines of business. When talking about municipal insurance, those premiums are driven by claims that have a ‘long tail’ nature. This means it can be seven plus years from an when incident occurs until it even sees a courtroom. Legal fees are amassed that whole time. There is also joint and several liability, the 1% rule. More and more, courts seem to be putting responsibility on a municipality and less on a negligent plaintiff. Then there are the high damages awarded. Eight years ago, a $5 million settlement was a big deal. Now, we routinely see settlements of $10-15 million.

GRQ What is driving the increase in awarded damages?

Jessica Jaremchuk Our incredible medical care has allowed catastrophi-

cally injured people to live longer. Victims are now able to

have in-home care rather than relying on institutional care. An $18 million damage award might have $15 million of future care costs.

GRQ Damages are only one portion of the calculation that

determines premiums. What are some of the other factors that are contributed to the increases in premiums that mu-nicipalities are seeing?

Jessica JaremchukEssentially, a bunch of scary things that we don't have

any control over. The big one is climate change and prop-erty losses. Climate change has resulted in huge increases in property losses and catastrophic losses. According to Mu-nich Re, overall losses worldwide from natural catastrophes in 2020 totaled $270 billion. In Canada in 2020, losses in this category were fourth highest year on record. Cyber threats are another factor. Cyber claims are going through the roof. Underwriters are wary of even providing coverage in this space. Another emerging trend is transit where we've had more high loss claims. If something happens on a bus each person can bring a claim against the municipality.

02 / Feature


The large expensive claims to municipalities are motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).

Did you know?

GRQ Are there steps municipalities can take to address

these risks?

Jessica JaremchukYes. In terms of cyber security, educating your employ-

ees. Municipal systems are not necessarily as vulnerable as staff. COVID-19 has made people more vulnerable. Who's not

going to be tempted to click on that link that says, click here to keep your family safe during COVID?

GRQ Explain what is meant by a hard insurance market.

Jessica Jaremchuk The insurance market is a cyclical. It is either ‘hard’ or

‘soft’. A soft market is defined by low rates, generous terms and lots of competition. Until recently we were in a soft mar-ket for about 15 years. During that period, a municipality go-ing out for an RFP would have three or four bidders. The RFP process would generally yield a decrease.

In a hard market, it's the opposite. Higher rates. Restric-tive terms. You might see on insurance policies, sub limits or caps that you didn't see before. And there is less competi-tion. We have worked with a number of municipalities in On-tario that have issued RFPs hoping for competition but have had only one respondent come to the table. Over the past five decades, there have been four hard markets. Hard mar-kets tend to be much shorter in duration than soft markets.

GRQ Let’s talk about joint and several liability. Municipalities

have sought to reform this aspect of tort law for the last 30 years. How are insurers approaching this issue?

Jessica JaremchukSince starting at Intact Public Entities nine years ago,

this has been a focal point for us. That said, there is still con-

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fusion about joint and several liability. One person suing a municipality is not joint and several liability. That is an issue of contributory negligence. Joint and several is when there are two or more wrongdoers, say a car crash, where a driver is sued and the municipality is sued. People want something to blame for what is happening in the insurance market. My fear is that municipal people are blaming joint and several liability. Reforming joint and several liability is not going to have the impact on those claims that people think.

GRQ So even if joint several liability reformed it would not re-

ally have much of an effect on rates?

Jessica JaremchukIf reform joint and several happened right now, it's not

going to change a municipality’s insurance premium. It might change your insurance premium eight years down the road but remember liability claims are ‘long-tail’ in nature. Instead, municipalities should focus on what they can control. There are things that they can do across the risk management board. If a municipality has a claim, it should get out of it quicker, or be better prepared to defend it.

GRQ That has been our approach to Vision Zero, improved

signage and winter maintenance best practices. All of these are actions municipalities can take to control risk exposure.

Jessica JaremchukI completely agree. At Intact Public Entities, we take ad-

vantage of our access to the Intact Center for Climate Ad-aptation at the University of Waterloo. It is why Intact Public Entities values that relationship with Good Roads so much. Collaborations like these unlock practical solutions that can actually be implemented.

Now is a great time for municipalities start thinking like this.

As rates increase municipalities should go to their in-surance companies to see how they can help with risk man-agement. This is especially true for if you're a municipality that doesn't have the luxury of a risk management depart-ment or a claims support. Use the services that insurers offer because you're paying them that premium.

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02 / Feature

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To think of transportation in 2021, is to engage in a little futuristic delight. Virtually every aspect of our road systems has changed for the better. Stoplights, toll collection, traffic management, parking, and even the pavement that makes up the road, have been subjected to recent technological improvements in the near past. Yet, the typical crosswalk in most of the world has remained largely unchanged since the 1930s. This is about to change. A rash of studies out of the United States has high-lighted the dangerous associated with using a crosswalk. While similar comprehensive studies have not been per-formed here in Canada, the reports out of the US highlight the scale and extent of the problem. The Governor's Highway Safety Association released its state-by-state traffic fatality report. This study found that the number of traffic fatalities increased more in 2020, than they had at any time since tracking began in 1976. COVID may have reduced the number of drivers but those using the roads tended to be driving much more quickly. When accidents happen at higher speed, the outcomes are much more lethal for pedestrians. A separate report by Smart Growth America found that the number of pedestrians killed while walking in Amer-ica has risen a staggering 45% between 2010 and 2019. The report concludes that there has been widespread failure to get drivers to slow down when approaching crosswalks, which is when drivers should be most careful. Globally, more than 300,000 people are killed cross-ing the street every year. In spite of the well documented problem, crosswalks in Ontario more closely resemble the Beatles’ Abbey Road

Cover (i.e. zebra crossings). Around the world, local road authori-ties have experimented with employing crosswalk innovations. Some of these are optical illusions and have been used in places as different as New Delhi, Montreal and Ísafjörður, Iceland. The American start-up firm Sensal Systems is looking to cast crosswalks in a whole new, hi-tech light. Sensal’s crosswalk tech-nology accurately detects pedestrians before and while they cross the road by illuminating their exact location. The system of sensors detects anything that passes over them and distinguishes what is a pedestrian or animal and what is not. When something is de-tected, it is illuminated by modular panels placed in the roadway. Sensal argued that the spotlighting effect draws driver attention to the pedestrians, whereas current solutions which draw atten-tion to the signage. The Sensal System can even emit a signal to autonomous vehicles. Pedestrian and traffic information is gath-ered and the data can inform planning processes. The system is compliant with the American accessibility standards. Since the simple act of using a crosswalk in communities large and small remains unnecessarily dangerous, this change can't come soon enough.

Walk This WayCrosswalks have been dangerous. New technology may fix that.

By: Scott ButlerExecutive Director, Good Roads

Sensol Systems: A modular crosswalk technology that im-proves visibility of pedestrians at intersections.

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Practical Futurism:Ten Things Poised to Change Our Roads

In 1994, to mark its centenary, Good Roads published Turning 100 Together: Ontario Roads and Road-makers. Retrospectives like this are by their very nature backwards looking. That focus makes Turning 100 Together an interesting read. As a work, Turning 100 Together is a story of standardization. It charts the evolution of paths that became gravel roads that became paved roads that became highways. There is the occasion innovation but for the most part, what is depicted here would be familiar to Romans get-ting around the Eternal City in chariots during the time of the Caesars. In the last three decades however, that gradual evolution of our approach to roads has given way to a revolutionary reimaging of what roads are and what roads should do. Today, digitization, connection, environmental responsiveness, socially determination, autono-mous, micro, and carbon neutral are but a few of the ideas being incorporated into our approach to roads. Keeping up with the explosion in road-focused technology could be a fulltime job. The pandemic has afforded us the time to reflect and consider these changes and what they mean. The essays that follow are ten of the technological changes and innovations that GRQ believes has the potential to influence decision makers and road authorities here in Ontario. They are a bold mix of the stylish, the technologically innovative and the occasional return-to-old. Together, they point toward a practical future.


By Scott ButlerExecutive Director, Good RoadsPractical Futurism:

Ten Things Poised to Change Our Roads

Photo: PCA-Stream


1. The 95% of the Time CarIn the last decade there has been an explosion of new au-tomobile manufacturers. Upstarts like Workhorse, Bollinger Motors, Lucid, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus and Rimac Automobili offer design-forward hyper-performance cars that were unimaginable a generation ago. The Swiss start-up Micro Mobility Systems has taken a decidedly different tack with its all-electric Microlino. In-spired by the bubble cars of the 1950s – google the 1959 BMW Isetta to get a sense of where the designers foudn this idea – the Microlino is quite unlike anything on the road today. It is more reminiscent of Pixar Studios than the Motor City. Recognizing that the typical European car is driven 35 kilometers a day and occupied by only 1.2 people, the de-sign team started with the premise that a normal car is too big for 95% of its usage. That mindset is immediately obvi-ous. The first thing you notice is its size. It is very small. It measures 2430mm in length. By comparison, the Mini Coo-per checks in at 3,853 mm. It has a svelte curb weight of 513 kg. The seeming lack of doors also is hard to look past. But,

when you are trying to revolutionize urban mobility conven-tion cannot get in the way. For road authorities, the Microlino should be an entic-ing concept. The diminutive size means less wear and tear on roads. It also demands less space. It can be parked at a right angle to the curb in a standard on-street parking stall. Its design allows you to enter directly onto to the sidewalk. The all-electric powertrain is environmentally responsible. With production set to begin later this year, the Micro-lino is priced at €12,000. Billed as the perfect car for two adults and three cases of beer, it is easy to see this vehicle catching on with a large segment of Ontarians.

02 / Feature

Photo: Microlino


2. An Icon Road DietMention Paris and immediately images of Hausmann bou-levards and world-famous tourist sites spring to mind. The most famous of these thoroughfares is the Champs-Élysées. Under the leadership of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the French capital is moving forward with a plan to dramatically convert the eight-lane road into “an extraordinary garden” by 2030. Not since Times Square in New York City was pedestrianized under the watchful eye of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation czar Janette Sadik-Khan, has such a prominent road been overhauled. The design from French studio PCA-Stream will see four lanes of traffic removed in the name of promoting tour-ism and fighting pollution. The two-kilometer avenue will be resurfaced with innovative low-noise pavements. Food kiosks and rows of trees are intended to convert the space into “planted living rooms” where Parisians can relax and gather. Despite its reputation as one of the most famous shopping districts in the world, there was a growing con-

sensus amongst local leaders that the Champs-Élysées had become a “noisy, stressful, unloved, polluted… urban highway”. Jean-Noël Reinhardt, President of the Champs-Élysées Committee, the body charged with preserving this unique site, declared the project will make “the Champs-Élysées a laboratory for the sustainable and intelligent city of the 21st century”. An alliance of businesses, government and citizens galvanized around the idea of a better, safer, cleaner, more beautiful future. It is this process that should pique the in-terest of decision-makers here in Ontario. Far too many ini-tiatives of this type fail to get beyond the planning stage because they lack this blend of public and private leaders. Whether it is beautifying main street or understanding the economic, social and environment potential of reallocating parts of your downtown roads to unexpected uses, Ontario municipalities could do a lot worse that following the game plan that Paris has taken.

Photo: PCA-Stream


02 / Feature

3. Last Mile Style E-scooters are divisive. Proponents see a space saving, fun solution to “last mile” transportation challenges. Detractors see unnecessary chaos and clutter. Until now, there has been truth in both perspectives. English design firm Layer has teamed up with Chinese electric automobile company Nio to design and build the Pal Scooter, that might tip the scales to the pro camp. Just as the team behind Microlino has taken their de-sign cues from yesteryear, the team behind the new Pal Scooter seem to have taken their inspiration from both John Gordon Rideout’s 1933 Skippy Racer Scooter as well as the folks in Cupertino. Pal has features more typically associated with a Tesla than a scooter. It is powered by Nio’s artificial intel-ligence system, which learns a driver’s routes and will get them there autonomously. The battery is modular and can be charged or swapped out. A voice-activated smartphone app responds to voice commands such as directions, loca-tions or route preferences. Most impressively the scooter features a pressure-sensitive suspension that allows driv-

ers to lean forward to accelerate or lean back to decrease speed. The chassis and steering column are constructed from a graphene-coated carbon fibre that drastically reduc-es weight and increases strength, key selling points vital for any e-mobility product. Layer founder Benjamin Hubert characterized Pal as “a near-future concept for a nimble 'last-mile' electric vehicle that addresses the growing congestion and population den-sity … and offers a possible solution to these challenges.” With the pilot period for e-scooters now open in Ontario, municipalities may wanted to "pal" around with partners in the private sector to ensure road users have access to cut-ting edge mobility like the Pal.

Photo: LayerDesign.com


4. Carbon Capturing Concrete Concrete is responsible for approximately eight per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A handful of Canadian companies, led by Carbicrete and CarbonCure Technologies, have positioned Canada to be a world leader in the creation and production of carbon neutral concrete. The Montreal-based, Carbicrete claims its product captures more carbon than it emits. The company combines waste slag from steel manufacturing with carbon captured from other industrial manufacturing in a process known as min-eral carbonation. This new product offsets the need for carbon-intensive cement. CarbonCure, the Halifax-based firm, employs a differ-ent approach to realize the same objectives. By using a rela-tively small and straightforward retrofit that the company calls the ‘box’, CarbonCure directly injects an calibrated volume of carbon dioxide directly into the concrete.

As traditional concrete absorbs CO2 it can shrink and cor-rode any steel embedded inside, something that is familiar to road engineers and bridge inspectors. CarbonCure main-tains that treating concrete with carbon early in the process mitigates this issue. To date, more than eight million cubic metres of con-crete has been made using this technology. This includes the construction of a 25,000 cubic meter deicing apron at the Calgary International Airport. The company claims that the project realized 160,000 kg of carbon savings, or the equivalent of CO2 absorbed by a 85 hectare forest in a single year. Amazon is poised to use it in the construction of its new HQ2 in northern Virginia. The collective purchasing power of Ontario’s munici-pal sector could vault this industry and other environmen-tally-forward looking enterprises into major world players, while also ensuring the local governments are making seri-ous contributions to climate change.

Photo: CarbonCure


02 / Feature

5. Magic Bus What do you get when you combine the minimalist aes-thetic of Japanese retailer Muji with the cutting-edge engi-neering of Finish autonomous-driving company Sensible 4? The answer is a possible solution to Ontario’s rural transit challenges. Unveiled in 2019, the Gacha Bus is a driverless shuttle bus that is intended for four-season performance, including heavy rain, fog and snow. This is reason for excitement. The CEO of Sensible 4, Harri Santamala explained this feature to British publication Dezeen. “The Gacha development got started when the Sensible 4 team, working back then with the first generation of robot buses, noticed that they just don't perform at all even in light rain, not to mention the typ-ical winter conditions in Finland…. This is what Sensible 4 has managed to change through repeated tests in the harsh winter conditions of the Finnish Lapland," Santamala said.As one would expect from such a technology, customers can summon the bus with a smartphone ride-hailing app. Muji’s design is a stark departure from your average public transit rolling stock. According to Muji, Gacha’s mini-mal design was inspired by “a universal shape that embod-ies joy and excitement, bringing peace and happiness to those who encounter it". Because there is not a driver, the

bus has no defined front or rear. Its Goldilocks size – not too big, not too small – adds further appeal. The Government of Ontario has passed regulatuion that would permit these vehicle to hit the road post haste. GRQ would love to see a partnership of the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and a willing municipal transit system that could de-ploy a small fleet of Gachas to connect rural communities. Having seen the challenges that organizations like Ride Norfolk Transit have had in setting up effective transit systems in the County of Norfolk, we can help but wonder how the people in similar communities with limited connec-tivity across Ontario might benefit from deploying a fleet of Gachas.

Photo: Sensible 4


6. Next Gen Signage Road authorities have gone to great lengths to make signs more visible. The glowing stop sign that is laser-projected onto a waterfall at the entrance of the Sydney Harbour Tun-nel in Australia is a wonderfully over-the-top example of these efforts. As vehicles become ‘smarter’ there is reason to hope such extreme measures may not be needed. Currently, most of the software powering semi-au-tonomous vehicles relies on technology that identifies the colours and shapes of signage. Lighting, weather, vision im-pediments, damage and defacing can compromise the abil-ity of the software to properly read its surroundings. Researchers at the University of Buffalo have devel-oped a new material, called a microscale concave interface (MCI), that reflects light in rainbow rings, a property that makes it much easier for traffic signs to be seen and under-stood by the automotive software. Unlike traditional retro-reflectivity, MCI scatters light to create attention-grabbing patterns. By covering traffic signs in MCI materials, the unique reflective properties allow multiple sensors in a

vehicle to cross-reference what it sees and in milliseconds confirm what kind of sign it sees. Writing in Applied Materials Today the University of Buffalo’s lead researcher Gan Qiaoqiang wrote “It is vital to be able to explain how a technology works to someone be-fore you attempt to adopt it”. Gan concluded “Smart traffic signs made from our material could provide more signals for future systems that use LIDAR and visible pattern recogni-tion together to identify important traffic signs. This may be helpful to improve the traffic safety for autonomous cars”. Municipalities in Ontario know all too well the costs and li-ability associated with signage management. A simple solution like this that enhances safety and has the potential to improve risk management frankly can-not be deployed quickly enough.

Visible (left) and infrared (right) images of a sign created using microscale concave in-terfaces to form the word STOP and other elements. The infrared image was taken using a LIDAR (laser imaging, detection and ranging) camera. Credit: Jacob Rada


02 / Feature

7. Launch Into Orbit Whether it is partnering with Uber to address transit needs, working with Rover to solve parking problems or accept-ing cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services, the Town of Innisfil has a well-earned reputation for punching above its weight as one of Ontario’s most innovative com-munities. A new development on the shores of Lake Simcoe is poised to further built on this reputation and quite pos-sibly introduce Innisfil to the world. The Vaughan-based development firm Cortel Group is working with Toronto-based architects Partisans to design The Orbit a planned community for 150,000 people that har-kens back to Ebenezer Howard’s 19th-century garden city movement. Partisans notes that the project was driven by people seeking more affordable living outside of Toronto. But unlike the unchecked sprawl that is characterizing com-munities large and small across Ontario, the proponents want to balance development with maintaining the existing natural landscapes and agricultural uses. At the heart of the Orbit is a new transit hub that will be built around an existing Metrolinx rail line.

Jason Reynar, the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer told the UrbanizeThis podcast, “We know that our cities have been designed around cars, and that’s not conducive to a real community kind of fabric and obviously walkabil-ity. So, we want to be very purposeful about how we de-sign these streets, and our hope is that they’re designed for drop-offs and pickups from both a commercial and a pedes-trian perspective.” While the project has not been without its detractors – we see you Ministerial Zoning Order and nimbyism – GRQ contends that the Orbit's commitment to building a new style of connected community is worthy of support, if not duplication.

Photo: Partisans


8. Modern Monetary Theory‘How will we pay for it?’ It is a familiar refrain used to silence demands for greater investment into the public realm. It is used with equal vigour to shut down requests for greater investments in health care, education and transit to name a few. To fiscal hawks, it is a legitimate question. To advocates of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), it is a question to points to a mis-placed understanding of how public finances work within nations that issue their own currency. In short, MMT contends that revenues do not constrain government spending. (Ed. note: explaining a complex eco-nomic theory like MMT in this space is impossible. To learn more go to your local public library and get the book men-tioned below). Instead, MMT argues that governments that issue currencies can and should run deficits so long as in-flation remains controlled. Most controversially, MMT says

that central banks can create as much of their own currency as is required to service government spending. This would include things such as roads. Since the onset of the pandemic, the federal govern-ment has been running a de facto MMT experiment. Al-though, MMT has its share of detractors, its biggest star, American economist Stephanie Kelton, author of the best-selling The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy argues that MMT is merely a more accurate reflection of how the global monetary sys-tem has long worked. Kelton is not without a point. Western democratic nations have address successive economic cri-ses with massive economic stimulus efforts. The G7 econo-mies have remained relatively robust and inflation free. For Ontario municipalities the challenge is making an argument with the folks at Queen’s Park and most impor-tantly Parliament Hill for the need to invest in local transpor-tation assets. If Kelton is right, the missing capitol maybe political and not financial.

Japan carries a huge debt-to-GDP ratio — because of its government spending deficits — yet has no inflation. Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research and Jordà, Schular-ick, Taylor (2017), IMF, World Bank.


02 / Feature

9. A New Stone Age Wired magazine was founded in 1993 on the premise that it was going to be a publication that felt like it was mailed back from the future. Pick up an issue today and it is plainly apparent that the magazine’s ethos has not changed. It still functions as a catalogue for the next big idea or product. That’s why when Wired published an article on the great un-paving of America’s roads, GRQ took note. A combination of economics, demographics, regulations and changing public perceptions has suddenly made gravel — if not sexy, — then at least very enticing to road authorities across North America. In the United States, road authorities in at least 28 states have decided to un-pave roads and replace them with gravel. Money was the primary driver of these decisions. Councils are recognizing that removing hard pavements is considerably cheaper than undertaking expensive rehabilitations. Annualized operating costs for gravel roads tip the affordability scales in gravel’s favour. South of border, Montpelier, Vermont (pop. 7,477) was at the forefront of this thinking. In 2014, Montepelier

stretched its public works budget by systemically un-paving roads. Crews brought out the City’s reclaimer and pulverized damaged asphalt roads. The space between “Vermont’s cruddy soil and hardier dirt and gravel up top with a ‘geotextile’, a hardy fabric that helps with erosion, stability and drainage.” Montpelier ended up saving approximately $120,000, or almost ten per cent of its street building and maintenance budget. By July 1, 2024 Ontario municipalities will need to have asset management plans the incorporate levels of service. Expect a lot of talk about going back to a gravel future.


10. After ParkingParking structures are an expensive staple of cities. So too is a lack of affordable housing and developable land. A growing number of community builders and entrepreneurs are looking at ways to address the latter with the former. Already several clever ideas have been implemented. In the parking garage below Chicago’s Millennium Park, space is being converted to an e-commerce delivery/logistics center. Shared industrial kitchens for on-demand, delivery-only food production have opened in two Los Angeles underground parking structures. Public rooftop amenities and urban agriculture have been added to structures in Denver and Seattle. The parking facility adjacent to the World Trade Centre in New York City – the Orwellian named Vehicle Security Centre – serves a secondary role as buffer to storm surges. In Wichita, the Broadway Autopark was converted into 44-high end apartments. Perhaps the boldest initiative of this kind is being undertaken in the United Kingdom by the department store chain John Lewis, which plans to convert its existing parking

structures in 10,000 rental units over the next decade. In Canada, the City of Calgary is pointing the way forward. The Calgary Parking Authority recently completed an $80-million 250,000 square foot, 510-stall parking garage that will be “the last parkade” it will ever build. The structure was designed to be converted into office, light industrial and residential purposes over time. Municipalities would be wise to appreciate the value parking assets have in realizing other social and environmental objectives. Forward thinking design like happened in Calgary needs to become the norm. The time to start planning is now.

Photo: Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC)


03 / Exegesis

You Spin Me Right 'RoundThe Manic Charms of Swindon’s Magic Roundabout

In Ontario, the installation of roundabouts follows a defined process, regard-less of whether it is a municipal or provincial road. Ministry and municipal officials rely on the specifications and standards that are detailed in Na-tional Cooperative Highway Research Program’s Report 672 Roundabouts: An Informational Guide and the Transportation Association of Canada’s Ca-nadian Roundabout Design Guide. The process is loosely as follows. First, the relevant road authority undertakes a traffic volume studies. The data that is generated is analyzed for insights and gaps. Accidents and collisions are scrutinized and studied. The grades of existing roads and street align-ment must be determined to be appropriate. Clear sightlines are critical. These datasets and insights are then weighed against the efficacy of other interventions such as traffic lights or all-way stop signs. If those indicators determine that the installation of a roundabout is merited, land assembly begins. This could include expropriation or land acquisition. Bared in mind, land costs can often stop a roundabout from proceeding.

Roundabouts were a relatively common feature of roads in Ontario prior to the mid-1970s when they were abandoned because of safety con-cerns. Only in the early 2000s did they see a renaissance. This is dif-ferent than in other jurisdictions where the enthusiasm for them never waned. Carmel, Indiana (pop. 101,068) lays claim to being the “round-about capital of the United States”, having constructed 138 such junc-tions since 1998. The Houses of Parliament in Canberra, Australia reside in the middle of a roundabout, not unlike Ontario’s Provincial Legislature. In Britain, the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society advocates for more roundabouts. Its website proudly states, “The roundabout is truly an oa-sis on a sea of tarmac…. Unlike fascist, robotic traffic lights where we are told when to stop and go, the roundabout allows us to show one another our very own English driving decorum.” American transportation tech-nology writer Aarian Marshall called them “artifact(s) of 20th century optimism and a belief that all things can be more perfect”.

In the centre of Swindon, UK (pop. 185,600), one finds one the Magic Roundabout, originally known as the County Islands Roundabout before being rechristened, a junction where five roads meet immediately south of the home of Swindon Town FC. Until the 1960s, this was the home of a standard roundabout that had all the usual traffic flow problems. To overcome these, Frank Blackmore of the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory, began experimenting with placing multiple clock-wise-running roundabouts around a larger roundabout the runs counterclockwise. The design Blackmore presented featured smaller roundabouts arranged around a larger roundabout. To its credit, the Swindon Borough Council’s Highway Depart-ment approved the design. When it was opened in 1972, police constables were positioned at each of the five entrances as well as in the centre of each of the five smaller roundabouts to smooth the transition. It is not, in the strictest sense of the word, a roundabout but is instead considered to be a “ring junction”.


You Spin Me Right 'RoundThe Manic Charms of Swindon’s Magic Roundabout

Image courtesy of Bing Maps/Ordinance Survey

There is an undeniable simplicity to how the Magic Roundabout works. Each of the five roads that meet at the junction are two-way streets. Driv-ers entering the roundabout can turn either left or right into the flow of traffic and go whichever direction provides the shortest distance. Motor-ists only need to follow the lane marking and directional arrows, yield to vehicles already in a given circle and proceed toward the desired destina-tion. Blackmore viewed this seeming complexity as a central feature. This is because the awareness the drivers need to navigate this maze demands a heightened sense of awareness the obligates motorists to remain vigi-lant to their surroundings. The folks at roads.org.uk describe the experi-ence this way, “Standing at the side and taking in this majestic sight - or indeed driving up and waiting to join it - gives the onlooker a panorama of vehicles all swirling and swooping past each other in what appears to be randomised, terrifying chaos.”

Roundabouts bring with them their own unique safety concerns. Jeff Cas-sello, a planning professor who specialized in transportation design at the University of Waterloo told TVO that even if the total number of accidents in-creases, the number of severe collisions tends to drop. Cassello stated, “Be-cause you don’t have vehicles interacting at 90-degree angles — you have them interacting in shallow angles — the likelihood of having a fatality in a roundabout is much lower than it is in a conventional intersection.” This hy-pothesis is reflected in the experience of Carmel. According to a Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study released earlier this summer, Car-mel saw a 47% decrease in crashes at its intersections. Compared with the anticipated accidents at conventional stoplight or stop sign intersections, injury-causing crashes in Carmel were reduced by 84%. A similar trend has been seen in the Region of Waterloo after a roundabout was installed at the base of a problematic intersection on Franklin Boulevard.

As you might suspect, the Magic Roundabout is not without its critics. In 2005, a public opinion survey was conducted by British insurer Saga Motor Insurance found that the Magic Roundabout was the more detested roundabout in all of Britain. There are approximately 25,000 roundabouts in the country. Two years later, a similar survey conducted by the Highway Insurance Agency found that the Magic Roundabout was the “seventh most feared road junction in the country”. This fear is misplaced. There have been relatively few accidents at the junction since its opening almost a half-century ago. Recent analysis has determined that the Magic Roundabout has reduced the number of accidents by approximately 30%. In the last decade, there has been only one fatal accident. While these results are welcome for motorists, there is little denying that this design is hostile to non-vehicular road users.

By Scott ButlerExecutive Director, Good Roads


Why you need a sustainable soil management plan.By: Nicole MacDonald, M.Eng., PMPColliers Project Leaders

04 / Affairs

Digging Deeper

https://www.colliersprojectleaders.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw18WKBhCUARIsAFiW7Jx2Ao-_mkMfMIBO4a8nXHkEzfWUsWX6LujpiU8r1tKY4XMLhbMSDF4aAlBhEALw_wcB


Digging Deeper Soil is a valuable and finite resource. It provides a foun-dation for the communities we build, helps to filter water, provides nutrients for forests and crops, and is a habitat for burrowing mammals and other organisms.

According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)¹, it can take hundreds of years to form a centimeter of soil. But we can lose that single centimeter of soil in just one year due to erosion.

To help conserve this essential resource, the Govern-ment of Ontario is implementing the On-Site and Excess Soil Management Regulation (O. Reg 406/19)² to better manage the estimated 25 million cubic metres of excess soil excavated during construction in Ontario every year. This regulation will also help ensure that any soil or material gen-erated is handled and disposed of appropriately.

This regulation, which came into effect on January 1, 2021 alongside two other regulatory documents, offers mu-nicipal transportation, public works and other project own-ers a set of best practices³ to conserve, reuse and properly dispose of excess soil created during construction.

What is excess soil?The Government of Ontario defines excess soil as “soil that has been excavated, mainly during construction activities, that cannot or will not be reused at the site where the soil was excavated and must be moved off site. In some cas-es, excess soil may be temporarily stored at another loca-tion before the excess soil is brought back to be used for a beneficial reuse at the site where the soil was originally excavated.”

What do the regulations consist of?The regulations consist of three main documents:

1. O.Reg. 406/19: On-Site and Excess Soil Management4;

2. O.Reg. 153/04: Record of Site Condition5; and3. Rules for Soil Management and Excess Soil

Quality Standards6

The regulations, which will be phased in between now and 2026, identify the rules for sampling, testing and trans-porting soil, and set standards for soil reuse and disposal. They also identify protocols and practices for the registra-tion, assessment, documentation and tracking of deposits.

Currently, local governments and developers must abide by regulations surrounding new risk-based soil and leachate7 quality standards. This compliance also includes following designation of waste and associated approval regulations.

Next year, the province will implement the sections re-

Nicole MacDonald is a PMP-certified project manager with nine years of experience in the construction and environmental industries. Her exper-tise includes site development, environmental site assessment, contami-nated site remediation and waste management projects. Nicole has also worked extensively with Indigenous and northern Canadian communi-ties to help successfully deliver infrastructure and water and wastewater projects. She recently completed a Master of Engineering degree and is currently in evaluation to become a Professional Engineer.


garding soil characterization, tracking and hauling. At that time, project owners will need to register and manage ex-cess soil records. There will be a two-year rest period be-fore restrictions on landfilling of clean soils are provincially mandated. The grandfathering of all provisions will be ap-plicable from 2021 through to 2026.

What does this mean for project owners?As the more stringent components of the regulation come into force, excess soil characterization, reuse, disposal and legal responsibility for soil management will fall to local gov-ernments, developers and project owners.

This means that local governments will need to play a more active role in managing excess soil on municipally-owned projects. Although contractors or consultants can continue to manage supporting tasks, local governments should have a strategy to not only manage logistics and costs, but to mitigate risks and liability.

Preparing a planAs the province phases in excess soil regulations, munici-palities would be well-advised to begin incorporating the management of excess soil into their official plans, such as land use planning, watershed planning or asset manage-ment planning. In doing so, the reuse of excess soils can be mapped to areas of maximum benefit on a broader scale.

However, as municipal transportation and public works project owners, municipalities will also want to ensure that the delivery of capital and infrastructure projects is compli-ant. There are three steps municipalities can take to make sure projects and programs are ready moving forward.

1. Have a clear understanding of your legal responsibilityTake the time to review the excess soil regulations

with your internal team. This will help you develop a firm understanding of your municipality’s role and responsibili-ties as a project owner. Seek legal advice to support your understanding of the regulations and get clarity on ques-tions about liability.

Taking these actions will ensure an understanding of the roles of the consultants, contractors and/or third-party entities supporting you on capital projects. This can help you build a strategy and management plan that best suits your city or municipality’s unique needs.

2. Consider integrating excess soil management into your capital programs

As a municipal department leading several capital projects a year, it can be beneficial to apply these regula-tions at an asset management or program level, rather than on a project-by-project basis.

You may want to hire an advisor to develop a business case that identifies the options available for managing ex-cess soil on a larger scale. An advisor can also offer sugges-tions on how to integrate processes and procedures into your existing program management structure. Taking this approach allows you to create a custom solution that incor-porates excess soil regulations while also harmonizing the

regulations with your long-term project plans. In addition, preparing a thorough business case can

help you identify opportunities for cost savings. Depend-ing on available land, you may be able to store and reuse clean soil for other capital projects. Alternatively, if your city or municipality doesn’t have land available, an advisor can help you secure a cost-effective third-party arrangement to sort and store excess soil elsewhere.

3. Incorporate processes and procedures into project planning

Once you’ve determined how to apply excess soil management practices to your capital program, you’ll want to find ways to incorporate soil management tasks into your project planning. Start by updating your procurement contracts to include expectations surrounding soil manage-ment. This will give your consultants and contractors an un-derstanding of their role, responsibilities and tasks. Clearly defining supporting roles and responsibilities in your pro-curement documents will also help you better manage ex-cess soil risks.

Another way to incorporate excess soil processes into your project plans is to select a soil management soft-ware, that can be adopted by all local consultants and con-tractors. This will provide more cohesiveness across your projects and simplify sampling, analysis and tracking data. Implementing excess soil processes and procedures also enables you to ensure transparency within your project team. This will be a vital component to project success as regulations roll out.

As we adjust to Phase One of the On-Site and Excess Soil Management Regulation, consider your long-term and future goals. View the regulations as an opportunity to de-velop a solid business plan that aligns your capital program or projects with provincial objectives. By taking the time to understand Ontario’s excess soil regulations, you and your team can fine tune your processes and procedures to make the most of this valuable resource.

A model for the beneficial reuse of excess soils can be obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ Nutrient Management Act, which addresses the benefits of biosolids reuse and diverting a valuable re-source away from landfills – in this case to farm fields. Many lessons from the development of this Act, and its subse-quent programs, can be used to help comply with the new On-Site and Excess Soil Management Regulation.

04 / Affairs

1. http://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals/news/detail-news/en/c/277113/

2. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r194063. https://www.ontario.ca/page/

management-excess-soil-guide-best-management-practices4. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r194065. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/0401536. https://files.ontario.ca/mecp-soil-rules-en-2020-12-21.pdf7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/

earth-and-planetary-sciences/leachate


Plowbrush: The New Tool You Need In Your Winter Road Maintenance Equipment ArsenalBy: Chelsea PapineauDigital Content Specialist, CTV News Northern Ontario

When snow falls, winter maintenance crews race against the clock to get roads cleared quickly and effectively to ensure the safety of everyone. It's an important job, and the more efficiently it is done, the more revenue is generated. Blades, buckets, and snow blowers are great for moving high volumes of snow, but often leave behind a slippery mess requiring the use of road salt.

Rob Chaput has been in product design and development for more than 30 years, working with Softub Canada and RSBC Global Inc. One day, he and his son, Brennen, were driving behind a snow plow truck in northern Ontario, which led to a discussion about how to clear the remaining snow left behind by the blade. A short while later, in January of 2019, the Plowbrush was born.

Budget And Environmental Win-WinNot only is the Canadian-made Plowbrush good for your winter road maintenance bottom line, it is also good for the environment.

The Plowbrush is an innovative and inexpensive attach-ment to add to your existing snow removal equipment arsenal that increases productivity when clearing the road and reduces the amount of salt needed to get the job done.

How It WorksAttached behind your conventional one-way plow, the Plow-brush's bristles loosen up the snowpack created by the blade, keeping the finer snow loose and allowing traffic to continue moving snow off the road. This helps restore bare road condi-tions quicker.

Operators can quickly and easily attach the Plowbrush to most name-brand one-way plows using a universal U-bolt style clamping system or a brand-specific adapter kit without needing to modify your existing plow equipment.

Plowbrush is switch activated from the inside of the cab which allows the operator to adjust the downforce pressure us-ing the integrated gauge in the cab and for adjustments based on broom ware and the type of snow conditions for optimal re-sults. It uses the truck's onboard air system to operate, making installation very easy.

Clear More Snow Using Less SaltHumans cannot live without fresh water, so protecting our drinking water from the impacts of salt is very important. New environmental protections and policies are placing greater im-portance on reducing our environmental footprints.

With less snow to contend with, winter maintenance crews using the Plowbrush are able to significantly decrease the amount of salt used when clearing the roads.

Real-world product testing produced an average of 22 per cent cost savings per event, based on the operator, with some routes showing savings of up to 40 per cent and higher. In addi-tion to the material savings, road tests also showed a decrease in the amount of time it took the operators to clear the highway using the Plowbrush, amounting to a reduction in labour and op-erating costs.

The amount of material savings being generated by the product allow the initial investment to be recovered quickly along with a return on investment and significant long-term growth.

Tried And Tested By Industry ExpertsEmcon Services Inc. is a group of companies located in Brit-ish Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario that specializes in highway maintenance, paving, bridge construction, material processing, and equipment hauling. Members of Emcon's Dryden, Ontario operations were involved in putting the Plowbrush to the test in harsh winter highway conditions.

Here is what two Emcon employees involved in the product testing had to say about the Plowbrush's performance:

"Overall, this is an effective new way of assisting in snow removal, aiding in reducing our environmental footprint while increasing effectiveness of operations in a more cost-effective approach. A great tool to add to the toolbox," said one Emcon foreman/patroller.

"It helps clear the centre line very well, making it very vis-ible and keeps the snow loose and easier to remove," said a high-way maintenance operator.

The Plowbrush is designed to fit the most common commercial-sized one-way plows, weighs approximately 300 pounds, and can be shipped across Canada as well as interna-tionally. It is manufactured in Sudbury, Ontario and the current lead time on orders is two to three weeks. Each unit comes with a one-year warranty.

For more information or to place an order, visit Plowbrush.com or call 705-670-3951.

05 / Advertorial

Emcon's Dryden, Ontario operation displays a PlowBrush attached to a snow plow.


The MOMS Act 04 / Affairs


A Step in the Right Direction.By: Thomas BarakatGood RoadsThe MOMS Act Street racing and stunt driving offences have been trending upwards since 2015. Lower traffic volumes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a big spike in these inci-dents over the past year. Seeing an opportunity to respond to a concerning trend while simultaneously addressing oth-er road safety priorities, the Province under the leadership of Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney and then-Associate Minister of Transportation Kinga Surma, passed the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act. The intent of the act was to make roads safer by:

1. Combating street racing/stunt driving and aggressive/unsafe driving2. Protecting vulnerable road users3. Protecting workers on or near highways4. Improving truck safety and industry standards5. Strengthening provincial oversight of the towing sector

The first three categories were of particular relevance to OGRA members.

OGRA provided a deputation¹ to the Standing Com-mittee on General Government in support of the bill, but highlighted areas of concern and missed opportunities.

Over the past few years, OGRA has been advocating for a provincewide Vision Zero strategy which would fun-damentally reimagine the transportation network. The main tenet of the strategy is that all deaths and serious injuries on our roads are preventable. It would be achieved through a combination of engineering, enforcement, education, and empathy. Vision Zero is the “gold standard” among road safety approaches and takes a comprehensive, system-level approach.

The Moving Ontarians More Safely Act does not bring Vision Zero to the province. However, the act can be seen as a step in the right direction and the Ontario government should be commended for moving forward with it.

Below are some of the measures included in the act along with OGRA’s commentary.

1. Ontario Legislative Assembly: Standing Committee on General Government - 7 May 2021: https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-busi-ness/committees/general-government/parliament-42/transcripts/committee-transcript-2021-may-07#P108_7527


Combating Street Racing/Stunt Driving, Aggressive and Unsafe DrivingMany of the measures in this category were relatively straightforward and sought to penalize those who partici-pate in stunt driving. The key difference for municipalities was the change to the threshold for stunt driving being re-duced on roads with speed limits of 80 km/h or less. Prior to the passage of the act, the offense was only applicable for those who exceeded the limit by 50 km/h. This has now been reduced to 40 km/h.

While the changes will help keep dangerous drivers off the road if they are convicted, there isn’t much in the act for prevention. Deterrence can be achieved through increased enforcement however it is neither desirable nor realistic to place police officers on all high-risk roads at all times of the day. Automated speed enforcement, red light cameras, and streetcar cameras are all potential options to better enforce and deter aggressive drivers.

On this note, a glaring opportunity was missed. Mu-nicipalities have been asking for the ability to use auto-mated speed enforcement on their roads in areas outside of community safety zones and school zones. Stunt and ag-gressive driving are not limited to these areas and thus au-tomated speed enforcement should have been expanded to include all municipal roads. Without enforcement, the new penalties will not be as effective. Many aggressive drivers believe they will not be prosecuted if no police officers are present.

Compounding matters is that if municipalities were granted this ability many would not be able to use it to its full potential. Local governments are already struggling to cope with the huge administrative burden of Provincial Offences Act court prosecutions which has only been ex-acerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This in turn disincen-tivizes them from installing devices such as those used for automated speed enforcement.

Accompanying the act was a proposal to introduce administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) as an alterna-tive to Provincial Offences Act prosecutions for automated speed enforcement, red-light camera, and streetcar camera infractions. However, this has been discussed for several years. AMPs for such infractions are already in Section 21.1 of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) and have been since 2014. Unfortunately, this section has not yet been proclaimed. OGRA asked for a firm commitment to bring Section 21.1 into force as soon as possible.

Protecting Vulnerable Road UsersThree distinct changes to protect vulnerable road users were included in the act. First, was to allow automated cam-era enforcement to be used as evidence against drivers who illegally pass streetcars including when their doors are open. For OGRA’s Toronto members, this is surely a positive development as it would strengthen vulnerable road user safety by improving driver behaviour around TTC vehicles. This will likely be a similar framework to that of school bus cameras.

2022 ConferenceFebruary 27 – March 2, 2022 Fairmont Royal York, Toronto

OGRAConference.ca

04 / Affairs

http://www.ograconference.ca


Second in this category is to update the definition of e-bikes to create three distinct classes:

1. Bicycle style2. Moped style3. Motorcycle style

With the federal definition of e-bikes repealed it was positive to see the province step in and create these dif-ferent classes. This gave Ontario’s municipalities the ability to better regulate them. However, legitimate concerns were raised by the cycling industry regarding the weight limits which differentiate the various classes of e-bikes from car-go e-bikes. The 55 kg weight limit appeared to put a range of "family style" e-bikes into the cargo e-bike pilot project. This was concerning as municipalities must actively pass a bylaw allowing that pilot to happen, essentially banning the use of even simple e-bikes over 55 kg. Furthermore, the Ministry of Transportation explicitly stated that their cargo e-bike pilot was for larger commercial cargo bikes, not fam-ily style e-bikes.

The minimum age for bicycle style e-bikes was low-ered to 14 from 16, while the minimum age remained 16 for the latter two categories.

Lastly, the act sought to better track what is known colloquially as “dooring”, which is when a cyclist is hit by the door of a parked motor vehicle when a driver or passenger is exiting. Prior to the passage of this act, the Province did not consider dooring to be a “reportable collision” because the motor vehicle is not in motion. This meant that police were not required to track dooring incidents as collisions, and the Province did not record them as part of their Annual Road Safety report. While local police services were free to track such incidents, most chose not to as they were not mandated to do so. It is difficult for decisionmakers to ana-lyze dooring trends and identify solutions if such incidents are not being tracked consistently.

What was missing from this section was a preventive measure: updating Ontario’s driver education handbooks to teach the “Dutch Reach” method of opening doors to pre-vent dooring from occurring in the first place. The method instructs those in vehicles to open the door using the hand farthest from the door, forcing them to shift their upper body in such a way that they can see if a cyclist is approaching. It is a sim-ple yet effective method.

Protecting Workers on or Near HighwaysThree major changes were made to protect workers on or near highways. First, MTO Transportation En-forcement Officers are now authorized to close a road, drive along closed roads, and direct traffic as part of

their duties when responding to emergencies or assisting in collision investigations. This authority is not limited to pro-vincial roads and has the potential to be troubling for OGRA members. Issues with regard to chain of command could occur if local road authorities, police, and MTO officers are all on site at the same time. Furthermore, when the police or a municipality close a roadway, information is put out of 511 that is directly downloaded into all emergency vehicles, so that they are aware of the closure. It is unclear if MTO Transportation Enforcement Officers would also do this when they shut a municipal road.

To alleviate these concerns, OGRA asked that very specific situations be prescribed as to when these powers can be utilized by MTO officers on local roads.

The second change in this category was to permit the use of automated flagger devices as an additional traffic control tool in construction zones in order to reduce the need for construction workers to physically stop traffic themselves. In areas with lots of traffic, flaggers de-escalate situations where drivers do not want to stop. An automated flagger device on its own cannot do this. These devices will likely be more effective in low traffic areas, and this is the likely intention as the act states that they can be used “where traffic is reduced to one lane on a two-lane high-way”. Permitting these devices can be seen as a positive de-velopment as long as the requirement for the flaggers to be manned and operated by a physical remote control remains.

Lastly, construction vehicles are now allowed to re-verse on highways when being used for construction pur-poses and if the movement is made in safety. This will be particularly useful on centre median work where access is very difficult. However, it was unclear how this movement is to be made in safety as there were no prescribed require-ments such as having a backup spotter. While there has not yet been a commitment to Vision Zero, the Ontario government has taken some steps in the right direction to address road safety concerns and issues. It is an important first step toward realizing a future where Ontarians are no longer fatally injured or seriously hurt on roadways. The Province should be commended fortheir action.

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Railway Safety Month – Is Your Municipality Compliant?

04 / Affairs


Regulation extensions are broken down for GRQ readers. By: Li-Lian Lui, M.Eng., P.Eng., PMP Director, Partum Consulting

Railway Safety Month – Is Your Municipality Compliant?

In Ontario there are more than 4600 roadway-railway grade crossings. According to the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), Ontario’s crossings contribute to approximately 27% of crossing accidents in all of Canada. TSB statistics also show that over the past five years, there has been no signifi-cant reduction in crossing accidents in our province. For road authorities and other crossing owners, rail-way grade crossings can contribute to many operational concerns regarding ownership, maintenance, proximity, and safety. For crossings that involve federally regulated railways, the following bodies can be contacted for support with the various operational concerns:

• Transport Canada (TC) Rail Safety – Administrator of the Railway Safety Act through a national railway safety inspection program. TC develops policies and regula-tions for rail safety and outlines the requirements for anti-whistling at crossings. TC also provides financial support to crossing stakeholders through the Railway Safety Improvement Program (RSIP).

• Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) – Quasi-judicial organization governing railway crossing ownership. The CTA also manages dispute resolution and mediation for crossing matters for stakeholders where needed.

• Transportation Safety Board (TSB) – Independent agency that investigates occurrences in all modes of transportation, including rail. The TSB also publishes rail occurrence statistics for the industry.

In 2014, Transport Canada (TC) Rail Safety passed the first law in Canada for grade crossing safety through the Grade Crossing Regulations (GCR) and Grade Crossing Standards (GCS). The regulations clearly define the following key aspects:

• responsibilities for railways and road authorities at grade crossings;

• requirements for stakeholders to share information re-lated to public crossings, including pertinent details such as train and road traffic volumes, design speeds, design vehicle, etc. ; and

• standards for maintaining existing crossings and de-signing new or modified crossings.


For road authorities and other crossing owners, the GCR and GCS may have introduced seemingly new respon-sibilities for crossing maintenance that otherwise may have been done historically by railway personnel. The learning curve and implementation of the GCR and GCS has been gradual due to a perceived shift in responsibilities, and edu-cation on clear legal expectations. Through the GCR and GCS, TC’s Railway Safety In-spectors can legally enforce public and railway safety at grade crossings. Some of the primary aspects inspected in-clude a crossing’s sightlines, surface, signage, and signals system. Both railways and road authorities have specific re-sponsibilities for the listed aspects which are described in the GCR and GCS. As a result, it is important for all crossing stakeholders to become educated in their specific responsi-bilities for the protection of public and railway safety. The GCR and GCS were published in the year 2014, with a seven year roll-out timeline for coming into force by November 2021. Therefore, railways, road authorities, and other crossing owners were given seven years to bring their crossings into compliance with the legal requirements. Eighteen months prior to the November 2021 date, TC be-gan conducting consultations with the industry to review the actual progress of the GCR and GCS implementation. The consultations revealed that the industry would not be able to meet the November 2021 coming into force deadline for thousands of crossings in Canada. The inability to meet the November 2021 deadline was uncovered to be shared by railways, road authorities, and other crossing owners. The original six-year rollout timeline was not sufficient for stake-

holders to clearly understand their responsibilities, collab-oratively establish required improvements, or implement the improvements. TC also concluded from the consultations that the scope of the application of the GCR was too broad and therefore requires adjustment. In June 2021, Transport Canada published an amend-ment to the Grade Crossing Regulations proposing a risk-based approach to the application of the legal requirements. This new approach will categorize crossings into three groups: High Priority; Low Risk; and Other. High Priority are defined as, “a public grade crossing with average annual daily railway movements of 10 or more and a railway design speed of 97 km/h (60 mph) or more. ¹” Such crossings will receive a one-year extension for compliance by November 2022. Low Risk and Other crossings are those which are not defined as High Priority and will receive a three-year exten-sion for compliance by November 2024. Stakeholders will be tasked with defining which cat-egory their crossings fall under in order to determine the amended compliance deadlines. For private or farm crossing owners, depending on the train traffic, speed, and other con-ditions, such crossings could even be considered exempt from the GCR and GCS. Road authorities and other crossing owners are highly encouraged to review the amended GCR in order to define the specific expectations for safety at their crossings. Doing so will support the progression of public and railway safety at crossings and hopefully contribute to the reduction in grade crossing accidents in Ontario.

1.https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2021/2021-06-19/html/reg7-eng.html , August 2021.

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04 / Affairs

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One of the more interesting legislative legacies still on the books in Ontario came to end on July 01, 2021, when the Statute Labour Act was repealed. The Act was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the parliament of Upper Canada in 1793. It stated that any local government that had not passed a bylaw abolishing statute labour could compel property owners to perform road maintenance. Properties that were assessed at less than $300 were liable for two days of statute labour. Those obligations in-creased with property values. Properties worth more than $900 were to do five days of labour. Every additional $300 in property value imposed an additional day of labour on the property owner. As The Toronto Star noted in 2007, when property values were an entirely different proposition, “com-bining this formula with current property values, a landowner today might have to perform more than 365 days of labour in any given year.

Any local government that had not passed a bylaw abolishing statute labour could compel property owners to perform road maintenance.

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Pavement Affects Brood X Cicada HatchEarlier in this spring, entomologists and bug lovers alike, awaited the once-everyone-17-years emergence of the Brood X cicadas. While some areas experienced the cacophony of the buzzing, over regions did not see nearly the anticipated pro-liferation of cicadas. Scientists are attributing this uneven hatch to the twin forces of urbanization and climate change. In both Canada and the United States, cities have grown at a phenomenal rate since the turn of the century. This growth has led to a rapid expansion in impervious ground cover. Researchers at Texas Tech University and the University of Maryland concluded that the removal of tree canopies to accommodate new homes, factories, roads and parking lots killed many of the cicadas that were expected to arrive this spring since periodical cicadas feed on the un-derground roots of trees. Already, a cicada brood in Con-necticut and another in Florida have gone extinct. More than a century ago, the US Department of Agri-culture predicted a similar demise for Brood X.

At Good Roads we know that knowledge will power the 21st century and that education is the most effective way of gain-ing knowledge. In recognition of this, Good Roads is committed to building the next generation of municipal leaders by helping offset the cost of school for one deserving candidate. Prefer-ence will be given to those pursuing studies in a field related to Good Roads’ mandate such as civil engineering, public ad-ministration, or political science. Eligibility criteria:

- Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada; - Entering the first semester of a program at an accred-

ited post-secondary institution in Ontario; - Have not previously attended a post-secondary

institution; - Have made significant positive leadership contributions

to your school and/or community; and - Have a parent/guardian currently employed by a Good

Roads member municipality or First Nation.

Application: Write and submit a 500-word essay detailing applicant’s leadership and contributions to their community. Include your rationale for pursuing your particular area of study to [email protected].

Award: $1,500.00

Good Roads supports equity, diversity and inclusion. Stu-dents who are Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Metis), have a disability or are from a racialized background are en-couraged to apply.

Submission must be emailed to the account above by De-cember 1, 2021 at Noon EST.

Essays will be reviewed by a cross-function panel of Good Roads executives and board of directors.

The recipient will be announced at Good Roads annual con-ference in February 2022 and on our website and social me-dia channels.

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MTO to Remove All X-Lite Guardrail End TreatmentsLate in August, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) in-formed stakeholders that it was replacing all existing X-Lite guardrail end treatments that had been installed on pro-vincial highways. Motivated by “an abundance of caution” MTO has begun work to replace these existing devices with guiderail end treatments that are certified according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH). The X-Lite guiderail end treatments will no longer be permitted in provincial construction or maintenance con-tracts. For anyone concerned with road safety this is a wel-come, if overdue, step. Stateside, at least 3 Departments of Transportation (DOT) took similar steps prior to 2018. Many safety advocates feel that MTO is late to the party.

Without robust documentation the Minimum Maintenance Standards aren’t enough. That’s why Good Roads built the Weather Tracker. Ontario is getting more litigious. In court, municipalities must prove that every effort has been made to respond to winter events. The Weather Tracker provides peace of mind from your desktop or smartphone and includes:

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Roads and bridges account for a large portion of Ontario municipal assets.

In November 2020, Canada’s then-Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna committed to devel-oping a national infrastructure assessment initiative to iden-tify national long-term infrastructure needs and priorities. This assessment would be the first of its kind in Canada and follows in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and Australia.

In mid-March, Infrastructure Canada put pen to paper and released an engagement paper entitled Building the Canada We Want in 2050. It set out the purpose and ben-efits of undertaking the National Infrastructure Assessment and sought input from the public, Indigenous peoples, prov-inces, territories, municipalities, and stakeholders on three main priorities:

1. Assessing Canada’s infrastructure needs and es-tablishing a long-term vision;

2. Improving coordination among infrastructure own-ers and funders; and

3. Determining the best ways to fund and financeinfrastructure.

The 2021 federal budget proposed funding of $22.6 million over four years to carry out the assessment.

The Report states that Canada has always had to think big to be competitive. With a global competition for business taking place at a time of a rapidly changing climate, digital transformation, demographic upheaval, and shifting geopol-itics, the federal government argued is that those countries that build next-generation infrastructure will be ideally posi-tioned to capitalize on these changes.

With the halfway point of the 12-year $180 billion In-vesting in Canada Infrastructure Plan rapidly approaching,

the federal government argues that the assessment will be key to fostering Canada's long-term growth and competi-tiveness. These investments will also provide the founda-tion for Canada’s efforts to get to net-zero emissions and increase the climate-change resiliency of infrastructure. In short, the approach to infrastructure goes right to the heart of improving quality of life for all Canadians.

Since the engagement process concluded, Infrastruc-ture Canada announced that it will be establishing an inde-pendent advisory body to lead an evidence-based process to identify Canada's infrastructure needs over the near-, medium-, and long-term. If you strip this announcement of its of the political jargon, it is clear that the federal govern-ment has finally got serious about answering the seven ba-sic questions of asset management planning.

1. What do I have and where is it located?2. What is it worth?3. What is its condition and remaining service life?4. What needs to be done?5. When do I need to do it?6. How much will it cost?7. How do I ensure accountability?

For that reason, OGRA is ready to be a key contributor to this process.

An Asset Manage-ment Approach to Canada’s National In-frastructure Assess-mentBy: Thomas BarakatGood Roads

The halfway point of the 12-year $180 billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan is rapidly approaching.

$180B

04 / Affairs


Ontario’s experience with creating a robust asset man-agement planning regime shows that this is an important initiative. The priorities outlined in Canada’s National Infra-structure Assessment provide an opportunity to take the country’s infrastructure planning to the next level and tackle key 21st century issues. To tackle the problems of the 21st century, the coun-try’s infrastructure owners must be able to accurately take stock of their assets. Doing so will allow them to more ac-curately budget and plan across entire infrastructure lifecy-cles. Should this initiative survive the federal election, OGRA will be especially focused on advocating for the creation of a national data standard for asset management planning. In the absence of such a standard, true collaboration between different levels of government and other potential funders of infrastructure will be stunted. Only with this aggregate level of consistent data can an accurate assessment of the na-tion’s infrastructure occur. To build the Canada we want in 2050, we must take stock of where we are at in 2021. The advances made in municipal asset management in Ontario need to be applied across the country. Only then can we fund the infrastructure needed to tackle the issues of the 21st century.

Counterintuitive Bike Lane DesignThe apple in the eye of active transportation advocates has long been segregated bike lanes. For many municipalities this is simply not possible. Often, if limited financial resourc-es do not prevent segregated lanes from being realized, then geography that is not conducive to accommodating such facilities steps in to dash these hopes. This is precisely the constraints that Uster, Switzerland (pop. 35,000) faced when it was looking to expand its cycling network. Officials took an entirely counterintuitive approach that transporta-tion officials should closely watch. Uster engineers decided to add cycling lanes to roads that are too narrow for tradi-tional bike lanes. These new skinny bike lanes are the kind of thoroughfares that may have one bike lane on one side or no bike lanes at all. The head of the city’s infrastructure has claimed that this is a psychological experiment that is intended to remind motorists that cyclists enjoy the same rights as other road users.

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Welcome to our new quarterly magazine.By: Dave BurtonPresident - Good Roads

Welcome to our new quarterly magazine – Good Roads Quarterly, or as we have taken to calling it, GRQ. As you read through these pages you will notice a new modern ap-proach to the magazine. This is our modest attempt to fill a need for a publication that is informative and really speaks to Ontario’s municipal transportation and infrastructure sectors. We wanted to do this while also paying tribute to our roots and delivering industry news that matters to our members. Our magazine is not the only thing that has changed or is about to change. Publicly and on materials, we are going to shorten our name to Good Roads. We will still operate legally as Ontario Good Roads Association. We will also be launching a new, user-friendly website. Autumn marks the start of a new year with back to school and new fall line ups on television. With this new look, we are getting in on the game, since this will mean the start of a new beginning with Good Roads. Our new name honours our history from 1894 since “good roads” was a powerful political movement in the lat-ter half of the 19th century. While, our mandate will still be Ontario centric, the new name will allow us to introduce ourselves to a wider audience beyond the province. The pandemic has shown that there are a lot of people across the country who are eager for the kinds of products and services that we offer. I also feel that our new brand identity better reflects the work we do in empowering our members

to win at their jobs through advocacy efforts, education and training, and connecting them with the right resources. As we embark on a new year and more than 18 months of restrictions because of COVID-19, the fall brings hope and renewal as Ontario reopens. I’m happy to say we are moving forward with many in person education courses and events. Good Roads’ staff have been hard at work over the summer planning education programming, board meetings, our new www.GoodRoads.ca website, events such as Ad-vocacy Day, Managing Winter Operations Workshop, and our annual conference in person. I’d like to thank all the in-structors and course directors for their efforts over the past 18 months in adapting to our new way of life and teaching, I want you to know you are valued and you are bettering communities across the province and Canada. I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage you to get involved in the Good Roads movement. Whether you work for a municipality, if it’s a staff position or as an elected official, I encourage you to apply for a board position. If you have a technical expertise, we could use your knowledge in teaching courses. Corporate members can participate as well in presentations, sponsorships and advertising to our engaged audiences. You can always get in touch with us via our social me-dia channels or email which is listed in our contact us sec-tion to let us know of any ideas or comments you may have. I hope you enjoy this inaugural issue of GRQ.

06 / Final Word


Managing Winter OperationsWorkshop

What will winter operations look likein 2021 / 22?Good Roads has answers.

We are excited to once again be convening Good Roads’ renowned Managing Winter Operations Workshop in-person. Industry experts from across Ontario will discuss solutions and best practices for winter road maintenance. A roster of exhibitors look forward to meeting attendees in our Exhibition Hall.

This is the key networking event for Ontario’s road professionals. Spaces are limited. Register now.

For more information visitwww.OGRA.org

https://www.ogra.org/courses-and-events/index.html/ogra/event-info/details/id/28498


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Documents

Quarterly Everything roads since 1894. Issue 01 / October 2021