National Engineers Week 2024: Welcome to the Future

Engineers have the power to shape communities. Their design decisions affect how we get to and from the places that matter to us most. They’re the brains behind some of our favorite public gathering spaces.

Using standards, guidelines, and strong technical skills, Alta engineers have designed and built thousands of miles of walkways, bikeways, and trails that reverse car-dependency and benefit the safety of communities across North America.

As we prepare to celebrate 2024 National Engineers Week and its theme, “Welcome to the Future,” we’re reflecting on the communities we’ve worked with and looking forward to the exciting possibilities that continue to connect us, now and in the future.

The following projects, and the talented people behind them, demonstrate different ways our Engineering practice is thinking about the future, and how they’re using a community-first approach to create safer and more sustainable places for us all.

Calm East Oakland is using a community-first approach to create safer connections to local destinations.

The Calm East Oakland Streets project is a series of traffic calming, wayfinding, and street pavement resurfacing improvements that will enhance and provide safe bicycle and pedestrian paths along four local corridors in East Oakland. In total, these four corridors represent six miles of neighborhood bike routes and will provide a low-stress alternative for cyclists compared to nearby high-speed, high-stress arterials. These improvements will provide safe connections to destinations such as schools, libraries, and shops, as well as other major bike routes in the city.

The local community identified these routes as priority corridors while updating Oakland’s Bicycle Plan, Let’s Bike Oakland, which Alta led as the prime consultant. In addition to the original concept design, Alta authored a successful $17.2 million Active Transportation Program grant application to fund detailed engineering and construction. The project is now in the PS&E (plans, specifications, and estimates) phase, and Alta is working on developing a full set of engineering documents for two of the four corridors.

“This type of project is why I got into active transportation. It has required a creative approach to engineering challenges that not only improve the safety of people biking and walking and divert traffic, but also represent the character and needs of the neighborhood. It’s a reminder that traffic calming is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution, and I’m looking forward to what solutions we create with the community.”

— Em Katz: Engineering Designer, Oakland, CA

Atlanta BeltLine is committed to sustainability and resilient design.

The Atlanta BeltLine is one of the Signature Trails in the Southeast US. The unmistakable circuit around the City of Atlanta connects people to neighborhoods, destinations, and each other. The project’s Westside Segment 4, about a year into construction, has been grounded in collaboration and complex problem-solving for Alta and project partners. The Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI), and Alta share a common goal: a commitment to sustainability and resilient design, which has positive effects on climate change. ABI’s sustainability framework indicates the BeltLine will “support best in class sustainability leadership by the City by proactively identifying and implementing solutions to Atlanta’s environmental and economic challenges, leading the way for the City’s efforts.” For Westside Segment 4, Alta worked closely with ABI and Astra Group, LLC, to prioritize this framework by integrating resilient materials and construction means into the design program such as:

• Utilizing local vendors to reduce emissions produced by long distance shipping
• Minimizing tree removal project-wide to reduce emissions produced by tree clearing
• Incorporating green stormwater infrastructure, including large bioswales and regenerative stormwater conveyance swales
• Providing a functional native landscape plan consisting of 168 types of native plants across roughly 12.7 acres, providing carbon storage and wildlife habitat
• Using green technology for concrete production

Learn more about the latest in engineering from the Atlanta BeltLine here.

“I’m excited to work on the BeltLine because it threads directly through Atlanta’s communities, activating spaces and providing vital nonmotorized links between parts of the city that have been long disconnected. The BeltLine is setting the stage for investment in the visionary active transportation infrastructure that Atlanta needs in order to continue growing and serving residents of all ages, incomes, and abilities.”

— Diane Jlelaty: Associate Engineer, Atlanta, GA

West Oakland, CA, 7th Street Connection gets creative.

This ambitious project completely reimagines the 7th Street Corridor, and includes protected bike lanes, transit islands, landscape enhancements, curb ramp and sidewalk upgrades, traffic signal improvements, and protected intersection elements between Mandela Parkway and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. There are several unique outreach and design implications since the project proposes changes to one of the main access routes to the Port of Oakland and provides improved bicycle and pedestrian access to the West Oakland BART station from other bicycle infrastructure projects and bikeways in Oakland.

Alta is the lead consultant for the overall project and is responsible for leading outreach and preliminary design and partnering to deliver the final design. The team is providing project management, the overall vision for these transformational corridor improvements, landscape architecture improvements, permitting and design support during construction. The team also plans to add shade by planting native trees along the street.

“To me, 7th Street is a dream project to be a part of in that it’s a holistic, multi-faceted design including prioritizing safety, landscape enhancements, accessibility improvements, transit upgrades, and separated bikeway design. It’s been exciting to collaborate with the City to put the puzzle pieces together, leveraging the existing conditions analyses and engagement process to iterate concept design options and delivery.”

— Tom Natwick: Senior Engineering Associate, Durham, NC

Oceanside Safe Routes to School Plan goes from planning to design to construction.

With the ultimate goal of creating a healthier, safer, more vibrant Oceanside, Alta led a citywide Safe Routes to School (SRTS) planning effort that supports walking and biking as convenient, comfortable, and safe options for students at public schools located in Oceanside, CA, including all 23 Oceanside Unified School District schools and eight Vista Unified School District schools. The final SRTS plan is the result of a robust analysis of infrastructure surrounding each school, a review of existing policies and programs, and extensive community engagement. In addition to the SRTS plan, we also supported the City in securing active transportation plan funding. Currently, the team is working on the engineering plans and ramping up to see the project constructed this year!

“This project is so exciting because we have helped Oceanside from the very beginning. From creating winning grant applications to planning and implementing the SRTS projects to putting them in the ground, it’s a full circle moment, and the result will be healthier and safer spaces for students and their families.”

— Kristin Haukom: Senior Planning Associate, San Diego, CA

Toronto, ON, Green Gutters and Bioswales serve as a blueprint for sustainable design.

Last year, the City of Toronto and Alta teamed up to design and build Toronto’s first protected intersection. Using bioswales and green gutters to separate the bikeway from traffic and other treatments specific to intersections, the project serves as a model for sustainable design in the region, and in North America. The project team made green infrastructure and low-impact development features integral to the design early on. While Toronto’s Green Infrastructure Standards were still in development, the team worked together on a green gutter and bioswale, which were used as creative and functional separation treatments between the road and on-street bidirectional bikeways.

The goal was to retain run-off patterns to existing curb and catch basins while minimizing impermeable surfaces as part of a retrofit roadway repurposing scenario. The project team selected appropriate plantings for the green infrastructure features, and during the design phase, there were extensive discussions on details for bioswale and green gutter inlets and outlets. During construction, the team worked together to manage constructability issues given the complexity of materials and their placement in the cross-section of the bioswale. The City is also observing the resiliency of various specified plants over time. Learn more about this award-winning project and what’s next.

The Olson Memorial Highway (Hwy 55) Interim Pedestrian Safety Improvements Project provides MnDOT with an opportunity to pilot mobility improvements prior to full implementation.

Alta assisted the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to develop a one-mile-long interim pedestrian safety project along Olson Memorial Highway (Route 55) in Minneapolis, with the goal of reducing vehicle speeding and improving pedestrian crossings. This project uses a quick-build approach with lower-cost materials to pilot solutions that improve safety and mobility prior to constructing permanent, long-term improvements along the highway. The improvements are anticipated to remain in place for up to four years.

The changes were implemented in two phases: first, lanes were reduced to two lanes in each direction and narrowed from 12 feet to 10 feet using bollards. Pavement markings (symbols, linear yellow and white lines, and high-visibility crosswalks) were applied on the inside two lanes of the highway to update the traffic pattern. The second phase included narrowing pedestrian crossing distances by adding painted curb extensions and medians, flexible delineator posts, plastic curb separators, crosshatch markings, and signs.

Bus, truck, and winter maintenance vehicle turning movements were taken into consideration to see that the improvements maintain highway functionality and operations. The project concept layout was developed with input from the City of Minneapolis, Metro Transit, and MnDOT staff. The project team also consulted with MnDOT Metro District Maintenance staff to discuss winter maintenance and snow removal considerations before finalizing the design for the interim project. Three different maintenance vehicles were identified as having roles for regular winter highway maintenance. Each of the vehicles has specific dimensions and operating characteristics that influenced the final design. As a next step, MnDOT will develop a preferred alternative and preliminary design for a permanent roadway project with associated multimodal improvements.