Braiding competing interests to unify a community through sustainable roadway design

Low Level Road

International trade continues to grow, and improving our port areas builds our economy. Seems like an easy win—the thing is, when industrial, commercial, and residential interests all intersect over one piece of infrastructure, it can be challenging to balance all the various perspectives. By raising the level of the road, we could improve safety and efficiency for commuters and rail businesses alike—but where did that leave the community? When we got right to it, we discovered that designing with community in mind was the real heart of the Low Level Road project. The days of designing infrastructure to just do what it’s designed to do are over.

With the new Neptune/Cargill overpass we eliminated three at-grade rail crossings, making commutes safer and faster. Plus, there were added benefits—fewer train stops meant fewer train whistles for residents and less shunting noise from starting or stopping the trains. All throughout the Low Level Road project development, design choices were made that would reduce visual impacts, noise pollution, the ecological footprint, and traffic congestion while also clearing the way for road and rail improvements.

Using a widespread team of engineers and architects, we paved the way with every facet of design on this project. A global reach to support a local challenge. A dozen offices came together to contribute transportation infrastructure engineering, landscape architecture, water engineering, geotechnical engineering, and more.

As the world’s first transportation project to receive an Envision Platinum award for sustainable infrastructure, there’s quite a bit under the hood. Low Level Road scored highly in quality of life, leadership, natural world, and climate and risk. This earned the project the highest level possible accreditation through the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI).

Recently, the City of North Vancouver published a Climate Change Adaptation Plan. By aligning the development with that plan, the design is prepared for the expected climate change risks and impacts. Plus, with the more efficient roadways, emissions were reduced and commutes were improved.