Stantec selected to lead two Toronto bridge replacements to increase resilience to flooding

C$12.5 million contract will help reduce flooding, improve transportation and public space

Stantec, a global leader in sustainable design and engineering, has been retained by the City of Toronto, in cooperation with the Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA), to lead the replacement of two bridges crossing Black Creek at Jane Street and Scarlett Road. Stantec’s scope will include preliminary design, detailed design, and tendering and construction, including slope stabilization, channel works, roadway modifications, bikeway improvements, utility relocations, restoration of public trails and other park amenities, and public art installations. The contract is valued at C$12.5 million.

Increasing resilience in Toronto’s most flood prone neighbourhood
The project covers Toronto’s most flood-prone neighbourhood—Rockcliffe-Smythe—which has experienced multiple major flooding events, including recently in 2013, 2019, 2020, and 2024. The neighbourhood was developed after World War II when it was common to build near rivers and within floodplains. Flooding in the area is caused when local waterways Black Creek and Lavender Creek overflow due to extreme storms. Overall flood mitigation in the area will include widening and deepening flood channels and replacing bridges and culverts. Flood mitigation in Rockcliffe-Smythe will work in concert with Toronto’s Basement Flooding Protection Program. Stantec has had a lead role on 3 out of 6 Basement Flooding Protection throughout various parts of the city.

“Replacing the bridges at Scarlett Road and Jane Street are an important piece of the overall flood mitigation approach for Rockcliffe-Smythe,” said Peter Erceg, project manager, Stantec. “With these improvements we will help make the community more resilient, while improving transportation connections to the surrounding city.”

Improving transportation connections
Both bridges will be widened as they are reconstructed, with cycling and public amenity space to support the needs of the community. At Jane Street, an 11-metre concrete arch culvert will be replaced by a 55-metre single-span bridge with raised cycle tracks in each direction. At Scarlett Road, the existing 15-metre bridge will be replaced by a higher 30-metre single-span bridge and raised cycle tracks will improve upon current cycling infrastructure. To minimize traffic impacts construction will be done in sequence, starting with the Jane Street bridge, followed by the Scarlett Road bridge.

Stantec will engage multiple disciplines to support the project, including structural engineering, civil and road engineering, traffic engineering, landscape architecture, electrical engineering, and environmental engineering. Staff will be engaged from across the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario.

Stantec is active on multiple resilience and transportation projects across the Greater Toronto Area, including the Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Section 4, the Ontario Line, the Hazel McCallion Line, and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 63 bridges across the city. Since 2019, Stantec has been part of the team monitoring construction of the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection project—one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Toronto’s history.

Learn more about Transportation at Stantec.