Uploaded on 2020-06-19 by Christina Mogk

Brantford recently approved a 10-year $872 million capital program. The infrastructure upgrades include everything from parks and playgrounds to new emergency services stations to streetlight replacements. Most of the investment, however, is going towards road upgrades. These include increasing service capacity and replacement of ageing water and wastewater infrastructure, and improvements and replacement of sanitary and stormwater sewer infrastructure. Much of this network is beneath existing roadways. Improvements to the active transportation network, with a focus on pedestrians and cyclists, are also planned. The photo above shows construction equipment beneath a bridge, with access points to a major highway. The on- and off-ramps are being upgraded, as are the traffic signals, to improve safety and accessibility for the transport trucks accessing the heavily populated industrial area nearby. Many of the lights along the highway are now solar powered. Embedded sensors in the asphalt will assess vehicle behaviour and characteristics: the number and size, use times, traffic patterns, and the like. Other sensors are tied into emergency services stations and vehicles for accident management. This crucial infrastructure thus creates a valuable cache of information that aids with city and transportation planning.