Maclure Road Widening - section 2

Location: Abbotsford, BC
Overview
The City of Abbotsford retained Binnie to provide civil engineering design and contract administration services for the upgrading and reconstruction of Maclure Road between Gladwin Road and Horn Street. Approximately 1,000 metres of Maclure Road was widened from a two-lane road to a four-lane arterial road, complete with irrigated landscaped medians, streetlighting and sidewalks on both sides. Cedar hedges and fencing were installed along the back of sidewalks adjacent to residential properties for both visual screening and sound attenuation purposes.

This section of Maclure Road had many environmental and geotechnical concerns as the south side of the road was adjacent to Horn Creek. Construction of the retaining walls that were required for road widening purposes along the edge of the creek banks was problematic due to the unstable underlying soils. Sedimentation control and minimization of disturbance to the riparian areas along the creek banks both presented challenges during the design and construction stages of the project.

Road geometry included two horizontal curves with superelevation to a maximum of 6% as well as relatively steep road grades, up to a maximum of 8%. The project also included the design and construction of a storm sewer system within the project limits.