The City of Peterborough retained LURA Consulting to provide engagement and facilitation services in support of the Paradigm Transportation Solutions traffic calming toolkit and neighbourhood traffic calming studies. One of the primary challenges of this assignment was conducting neighbourhood-scale, on-the-ground outreach during the pandemic when social distancing protocols were in place. Working closely with the City, LURA hired, trained and managed a team of community ambassadors from each of Peterborough’s five municipal wards to assist with targeted engagement. Community ambassadors provided valuable regular on-the-ground engagement with community members. They allowed residents to learn about the pilot studies and encouraged participation while adhering to public safety measures.  LURA designed, led, and reported on two rounds of consultation on the traffic calming pilot road design, successfully pivoting interactive traffic charettes online.  

Following the success of the first Phase, LURA assisted the City of Peterborough with an additional three study areas, presenting the opportunity to further refine the engagement process based on lessons learned from Phase 1. The project team recognized the value in further developing the connections community ambassadors could have with residents as an approachable, local, and accessible window into the project. Through this relationship, community ambassadors provided an additional layer of engagement that the project team could tap into to understand community reactions, sentiments and responses to the project. At the end of the project, LURA coached City staff through the transition from LURA’s engagement services to developing in-house capabilities to deliver future traffic calming studies with an established process and suite of tools to complete this work. The resulting Calm Streets PTBO neighbourhood traffic calming policy, toolkit and proposed calming measures were approved by Council in May 2021.

In partnership with Steer, LURA supported the City of Toronto’s Yonge Street Environmental Assessment public consultation, led by Transportation Services. This project addressed the potential street redesign alongside necessary repairs to a major water main along Yonge Street between Queen and College Streets. The consultation process, conducted over three rounds between 2018 and 2020, included stakeholder meetings, promotional videos, public meetings, and online questionnaires.

A Stakeholder Working Group formed after an extensive outreach to businesses, property owners, residents, developers, and community organizations provided feedback at key milestones. The group met five times, discussing solutions, examining trade-offs, and sharing ideas for refinement while helping promote public events. Three Public Information Centres were held to engage the broader community, each complemented by an online questionnaire, which received over 3,000 responses per round. Short videos were produced to introduce the project, share updates, encourage public participation and enhance project visibility.

Over 10,000 participants and 60 interest groups engaged in shaping the project’s vision, exploring alternative solutions, and refining preliminary design concepts. The EA was complete in 2021.

LURA worked with lead consultant Steer to design and deliver a public engagement program supporting the development of the City of Mississauga’s Transportation Master Plan, known as Mississauga Moves. LURA developed a comprehensive engagement program using various methods, including informal community pop-up events, a public charette and an open house in each of the three project phases. Digital engagement included Engagement HQ and MetroQuest to maximize reach online and complement in-person engagements.

The engagement process also involved creating and using a series of “personas” (based on actual Mississauga residents) to illustrate how various stakeholders perceive and participate in transportation modes throughout Mississauga. Throughout the project, participants completed online questionnaires, polls and forums to provide feedback and stimulate ongoing discussion about the project.

Approximately 5,000 people were engaged in this project, discussing various movement issues within and beyond Mississauga, including the Complete Streets and Vision Zero initiatives. The Transportation Master Plan was approved by City Council in May 2019.

The Gardiner East EA was initiated in 2009 and jointly carried out by the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto to examine options for the Gardiner Expressway East and Lake Shore Boulevard East, from approximately Jarvis Street to approximately Leslie Street. LURA was hired to design and implement a phased public consultation program in line with provincial and federal EA requirements.

This consultation program is included in the approved study Terms of Reference (developed through consultation with project stakeholders) and featured a comprehensive approach to mobilize the participation of key interest-holders and the public. Core components of the consultation program included:

Five rounds of very well-attended public meetings, completed in parallel with technical work for each phase of the study, between May 2013 and January 2016;
Online consultation via live webcasts of public meetings, social media and digital feedback tools through the consultation website; and
Multiple meetings of the project’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives of over 40 community, business and transportation organizations.
In addition to providing a full suite of third-party consultation services, LURA also administered a One-Window Issues Management service to coordinate all consultation inquiries and ensure timely and neutral “customer service”.