Sasha on the Street

It’s finally that hot, sticky weather in the southern Ontario area. And to me it’s no better time than to be on my road bike exploring the back roads, raising my heart rate, testing my limits and enjoying the breathtaking views (I think I may even like it more running, and for those of you [...]

Greenroads. GreenLITES. CEEQUAL. These are all sustainable highway tools already in place and there are even more in development. What this hopefully means is that in the future our roads, highways and bridges will have a context sensitive design that meets the three pillars of sustainability; social, economic and environmental factors. Different government agencies are [...]

With the recent earthquakes and tsunamis and subsequent nuclear disaster in Japan, nuclear reactors across the world have been called into question. Are they built to today’s codes? Could they with stand a hurricane? An earthquake? A tsunami? Can they with stand the effects of climate change and extreme weather events? Much has been written [...]

Last week I sat in on a webinar jointly hosted by AASHTO/FHWA/FTA on climate change and transportation; Climate Change 101: An Overview of Climate Change for State DOTS – An overview of climate change science, linkages to energy security, greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction strategies for Surface Transportation and risk-based adaptation to climate change. This presentation [...]

We will open doors for you. Say ‘Good Morning,’ ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye.’ We smile at you on the street for no other reason than to pass off a positive attitude. We are country known for our world-peace keeping efforts. People immigrate here for a chance at a better life… Canada has been known as one [...]

Just before I left for vacation I decided to take a big leap and write my LEED AP exam for New Construction and Major Renovations. I signed up for the exam about 10days before I wrote it and spent all my free time preparing for the exam. Thanks to a very supportive bf, a knowledgeable [...]

Have you ever been driving home during rush-hour wondering why it is taking so long to get through the traffic light? Through a busy interchange? Only to see it open up and you travel along smoothly for a few minutes or the rest of the way to your destination. Frustrating as it may be it’s [...]

Highway 401 – If it’s daylight it’s probably congested. The busiest section of the 401 runs east-west through Toronto and sees almost 500,000 cars on peak days (in comparison LA’s 405 sees about 380,000 cars per day), but the highway extends from the Detroit River in Windsor all the way through to the Ontario-Quebec border. [...]

Thanks to RenewCanada I had the unique opportunity to attend the Strategy Institute’s conference on The Future of Canada’s Infrastructure. The two days started with a keynote address from the Assistant Chief planner of the Directorate for the Built Environment of the Scottish Government and the remainder was filled with presentations about the current practices [...]

Thanks to my bf I was directed to the ‘ultimate’ TTC Map on torontoist.com. Dreamed up by Dieter Janssen, an architecture professor at the University of Toronto this map adds new lines, extends existing ones and tries to capture the GTA audience. Below vs. Above Ground Streetcar or Subway? Economically it just doesn’t make sense [...]