My community has gone through several agonizing months of presentations, consultations and the like in order to determine the best possible scenario for a proposed major highway realignment.  I won’t lie, it’s been heated at times, with residents arguing for - and against – the proposals.

But do highway bypasses really create unimaginable damage to communities?  Or are there there hidden benefits to such schemes?

From listening to many transportation, engineering, and land-use planning experts recently – as well as doing some investigating of my own – the answers are as diverse as people’s opinions on the topic; effects can be both positive and negative as well as short-term or long-term. 

As I’ve noted before, the more dependent a community is on drive-through traffic, the more likely it is to feel negative impacts from a highway bypass.

The concerns of local businesses, especially those that rely on drive-through traffic, are most likely to be voiced.  However, studies have shown that if the community is viewed as a trading centre for the region (which my town has grown to become), consumer impacts are lessened as there is a typically a wider range of businesses from which to draw customers. 

Even more interesting … downtown business districts - take note!  Those of you with well-developed downtown cores are even less affected as you have already built up a local client base that isn’t dependent on traffic patterns.  Some studies also note that the presence of a local economic development agency has been beneficial for businesses forced to adjust to such a transition … different communities experience different adjustment processes.

Overall, much research – including that which focused on smaller, agricultural-based communities – indicates modest negative effects on most communities. 

A situation like this reminds me of a popular saying … never waste a good crisis.  It’s precisely in such times that quality leadership is valued as folks rally to come up with a solution for their specific situation. 

Do you agree?

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Canadian municipalities play a pivotal role in road safety. 

Transport Canada wants to know about your municipality’s road safety initiatives, including key goals, programs and stakeholders – as well as safety gains you’ve achieved. 

This information will be used to help Transport Canada determine municipalities’ level of road safety engagement across Canada.  Aggregate information that highlights road safety best practices and lessons learned with then be shared. 

The goal is to help municipalities develop or enhance road safety strategies.  No information about individual cities will be shared or published.

Click here to complete the survey. 

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[ Rural communities want to survive ... and thrive.  That's why Paul Koch's article, Enhancing the Survivability of Your Rural Community, caught my eye as his list offers a number of steps communities can take to help ensure that they remain relevant and vibrant places to live.  With more than 35 years of experience working with various levels of government, Paul offered to share his insights into how communities can help ensure their survivability though unsexy, but necessary, infrastructure investments. ]

Many small rural communities are faced with monumental challenges in their efforts to survive or even compete in this economic environment.  Over the years, rural communities have struggled with efforts to balance an affordable cost of living with properly maintaining the infrastructure necessary to meet requirements and health.  However, in this day and age of ever increasing standards and requirements, there are now many rural communities with engineered solutions that they cannot afford.  The funding does not exist to make the required or even desired infrastructure changes and improvements, dealing economic viability a heavy blow in rural communities.

Traditional approaches and solutions will not help rural communities as the customer base is not sufficient to pay for building or operating required infrastructure enhancements.  In many states, for instance, there are many small rural communities who cannot afford the proposed solution.  There is not enough money at the federal level to begin to cover the costs of making these improvements.  Elected officials, community leaders and citizens are now encouraged to approach these issues of infrastructure in a totally different manner. 

You must get to what you can afford – and what the customers (citizens) – are willing to pay for.

When faced with the need for infrastructure enhancements, do not hire the engineer first.  Not that engineers aren’t good and professional, but you do the engineer no good when you have them design a solution that you and your community cannot afford and will not pay for.  A solution that you, or others, cannot afford is not a solution.

1. Start immediately by sitting down in an open public meeting and document/write down the problem and how you know it is a problem.  This could be a notice from a regulatory agency, water system leaks, broken pipes, leaking sewage lagoons or community anger over very high rates.  It is very important that you know exactly what the problem is and how you know you have a problem.  You do this work in the open so that your community (the folks who will ultimately pay for the solution) can see what is happening.
2. Take the time to learn and understand what the community knows and understands about the problem.  Unfortunately, we find in many communities, the community knows very little and they do not understand how or why they have been paying for years and simple repairs or improvements have not been anticipated.
3. Determine what special considerations must be anticipated in any infrastructure solution.  If you have many retired citizens, then rates are very important and there is a limit to how high the rate can go.  If you are seeking economic development, then you must also watch and calculate what a best possible rate is and you need to consider whether you want to even charge a development fee or take your return on investment over a longer period of time.  In many small rural communities, we are well past just increasing the rates.  And there are plenty of recall efforts to indicate that your citizens are watching this closely. 
4. Determine what policies you could put in place that would help constrain or reduce the impact on the customer or community.  For sewers, a policy of decentralization may be helpful in pushing off some costs to future development.  In most cases, extended periods of enhancement over longer periods of time can lower costs and rates.  So, instead of getting the project done in one or two years, look at 10 or 20 years and get the highest priority parts done first.  Look at privatization, new technologies, banding together with neighbouring communities in a solution and reflect your options through the lens of where you want to go as a community.  

This is all hard work. 

However, it will help you get to the solution you and your community can afford and help you determine what your community is willing to pay for.  In this day and age, infrastructure is a vitally important issue for viable communities wanting to survive. 

And now you are ready for the engineer.

For more information, or to receive a Community Infrastructure Checklist, contact Paul via his website at paulkochconsulting.com.

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