LURA was retained by STRABAG Inc., an Austrian-based company with significant experience building major infrastructure projects in over 60 countries, after the latter firm was awarded the contract to design, build, and finance the tunnel for the Scarborough Subway Extension (SSE). The STRABAG contract includes designing and building the launch and extraction shafts, headwalls, tunnel and supplying the tunnel boring machine.

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together to deliver the SSE, which will bring the TTC’s Line 2 subway service nearly eight kilometres farther into Scarborough. Stations are proposed at Lawrence Avenue and McCowan Road, Scarborough Centre, and Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road. The extension will replace Line 3 (the Scarborough RT) to reduce travel times and improve access to jobs, schools and other key destinations throughout the City. It is estimated to be completed by 2029 – 2030.

Throughout the process, LURA has worked in a collaborative relationship between the Contracting Authority, STRABAG, and community members and neighbouring properties by making sure to minimize disturbances, and resolving conflicts associated with construction activities. LURA provides a full range of public and stakeholder consultation services, graphic design and multiplatform content, Indigenous consultation, community open houses, and working group facilitation for the project, along with supporting communications services.

In this role, LURA has been effective with reducing the strain on the construction management team by allowing them to focus on their contractors, while LURA focused on community engagement and communications. Through this relationship, the project has been able to progress with minimal delays or disturbances.

Responsibilities:

Leading all day-to-day communications, engagement, and corporate/community relations according to established protocols
Drafting and implementing required communications deliverables including communications and engagement plans, complaints protocols, crisis communications plans and signage plans
Responding to stakeholder and community member inquiries and complaints by email and telephone and escalating to other departments as needed
Logging all inquiries and responses in an Interaction Tracking Log (ITL) in accordance with established protocol
Project branding, design, online presence, and social media strategy
Strictly adhering to content, timeline, and review process requirements outlined in the project agreement and other protocols, including for media inquiries and crisis communications
Drafting and distributing notices to nearby residents and businesses for construction activities such as tree removal, utility relocations, traffic restrictions and beginning of main works
Connecting with private property owners to secure permission to enter agreements regarding the installation of monitoring equipment for the duration of construction activities
Providing support for engagement with governmental authorities and elected officials
Taking weekly site photos and videos to showcase ongoing construction and project progress
Hosting pop-up events and attending local community events to present project information, answer questions and gather feedback on project design milestones
Maintaining a consistent presence in the communities along the tunnel alignment
Chairing monthly communications working group and editorial meetings with key Metrolinx, and Infrastructure Ontario project personnel and associated contractors

LURA has been working with Dufferin Construction for a three-year period to support its community engagement obligations while it executes the Early Works construction package in the Joint Corridor, a 2km stretch of the Lakeshore East rail corridor that will support GO Expansion and the Ontario Line subway. This segment of the Lakeshore East corridor is aboveground and runs through established, dense neighbourhoods. The corridor was grade-separated nearly 100 years ago with the construction of a berm and multiple bridges. The Early Works construction package includes widening the rail corridor by building retaining walls and replacing the bridges with wider ones. The close proximity of this work to the existing community requires a sensitive community engagement approach.

LURA has worked closely with Dufferin Construction to provide useful, timely, and frequent construction updates to the community to help residents know when, what, and where construction will occur. LURA understands highly technical construction work plans, schedules, drawings and uses them to prepare public-friendly materials with clear messaging, maps, and graphics. LURA uses these materials to prepare and facilitate construction notices, monthly Construction Liaison Committee meetings, community Open House events, multiple pop-ups at community festivals, and neighbourhood canvassing and presentations in multi-unit buildings.

LINK427 is a private consortium consisting of ACS, Brennan, Dragados, Bot, and WSP. LURA, on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) was retained by the LINK427 consortium to provide consultation and communications services for Highway 427 Expansion project. The project extends Highway 427 in Vaughan, Ontario by 6.6 km from Highway 7 to Major Mackenzie Drive and widened the existing highway to 8 lanes between Finch Avenue in Toronto and Highway 7 in Vaughan. New interchanges were added at Langstaff Road, Rutherford Road and Major Mackenzie Drive. The Expansion opened to the motoring public on September 18, 2021.

In this role, LURA maintained a part-time on-site presence at the LINK427 project office to gain an in-depth understanding of the day-to-day operations and build a strong rapport with the construction team, which in turn allowed LURA to disseminate timely and accurate information to the public and to communications staff at local municipalities. By serving as the primary liaison to the community through a variety of channels, LURA enabled the construction team to focus on other aspects of project delivery.

Responsibilities:

Receiving and responding to telephone and email inquiries from the public and other stakeholders and referring them to project team members in other departments as needed
Drafting and disseminating weekly Traffic Disruption Notices, special notices for major construction events, and monthly newsletter-style Bulletins, and distributing Design Construction Reports
Maintaining the English- and French-language public-facing project websites
Taking site photos and curating a monthly gallery, as well as posting and captioning monthly drone videos, to showcase project progress
Hosting Public Information Centre events to present and gather feedback on project design milestones
Chairing monthly Communications Working Group meetings with key LINK427, MTO, and IO project personnel