As part of a long-term objective to increase bus transit ridership in Durham Region, echelon paving was used to install Superpave hot mix asphalt to a segment of one of its busiest highways recently.
Echelon paving is the practice of paving multiple lanes side-by-side with the adjacent paving machines slightly offset.
Over four long nights in late July, general contractor Miwel Construction applied the asphalt to a 1.4-kilometre-long segment of Highway 2 — also known as Kingston Road — from just west of Hardwood Road to just east of Salem Road in Ajax, Ont.
Starting at 8 p.m. and not finishing util 6 a.m., Miwel paved the four existing vehicular lanes and two recently constructed bus lanes on a widened portion of the highway. The bus lanes are on the north and south sides of the original highway.
Even though it was a night operation, the paving wasn’t without its challenges, says Miwel project manager Mike Van Impe.
"We had to pave through two major intersections. Traffic had to be routed around these intersections while the paving was taking place and, despite it being completed during the night, traffic volumes were still quite high."
Numerous shuttle buggies, asphalt spreaders, triaxles, live bottom trucks, front end loaders, bobcats, multiple work trucks and about 20 men were on site, says Van Impe.
Organizations such as the Ontario Hot Mix Producers’ Association are major proponents of echelon paving as is Durham Region, says its Rapid Transit Office project director, Ramesh Jagannathan.
"The primary advantage is to eliminate the joints between asphalt mats by allowing the mats to be placed at the same time. This also improves the quality control on the compaction and finishing."
As a major traffic corridor, Highway 2 was "an ideal candidate" for echelon paving because it was done at night which reduced the time needed to finish it and also helped minimize traffic disruption.
At no point was the highway shutdown completely. Miwel completed paving the three westbound lanes on the north side (two vehicular and one bus lane) and then switched over to the three eastbound lanes on the south, says Jagannathan.
Night-time echelon paving will be used in future phases of the $100-million Highway 2 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Funded with provincial/Metrolinx dollars and regional financing, the project encompasses bus purchases, construction of garages and bus shelters, upgrades to existing shelters, the adoption of new bus operating technologies and major road works to facilitate Durham Region Transit’s Pulse bus service.
Of that $100-million figure, approximately $30 million is for purchasing property and building bus-only lanes through six major signalized intersections along Highway 2 in Ajax and Pickering: Salem, Harwood, Westney, Brock, Liverpool, and Whites roads. Similar to the first phase, night-time echelon paving will be used. The project also includes building ‘buffered’ cycling lanes at those intersections in both directions, says Jagannathan.
Construction of the Harwood/Salem first phase by Miwel began in the summer of 2013 and will wrap up before the end of the summer. AECOM is the design consultant. Construction at the Liverpool Road and Brock Road intersections will commence later this year, although utility relocations are already underway. Tenders have not yet been issued, he says.
The driving force behind the BRT is Durham Region’s Long-Term Transit Strategy which is intended to increase transit ridership on several road corridors. Highway 2 is identified as the first priority in that strategy, as well as in the Metrolinx "Big Move" initiative to provide transportation connecting links between the Oshawa Urban Growth Center and the Scarborough Town Centre in Toronto.
As Highway 2 is a high volume corridor with about 35,000 vehicles daily, the BRT project poses many design and construction challenges, says Jagannathan, citing property acquisition, utility relocations, watermain crossings, and traffic management.
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