The Region of Durham’s Works Department was recognized with a Project of the Year Award at the National Public Works Week event, for the Victoria Street Road Widening and Re-construction project.

Presented by the Ontario Public Works Association (OPWA), this award promotes excellent management and administration of public works projects in municipalities across Ontario. Durham’s award-winning project was selected in the Environment category for demonstrating an awareness and need to protect the environment.

The reconstruction and widening of Victoria Street, through the Lynde Shores Wetland Conservation Area, took over three years to complete and involved widening Victoria Street from two to four lanes in a protected highly sensitive wetland. The wetland is home to a number of Species at Risk (SAR), rare plants, marsh birds, muskrats, reptiles and amphibians, so protecting the area’s natural environment was a high priority for this project. In close partnership with the Central Lakes Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA), the project was completed successfully without significantly disturbing the surrounding ecosystem.

In addition to the road widening, the project included two new bridge structures crossing the Lynde Creek and a Lynde Creek tributary, two wildlife crossing culverts, a new multi-use path which served as a vital connection for the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, a new retaining soil system wall adjacent to the wetland, a wildlife lookout and new storm sewers.

Being an environmentally and technically challenging project, the Region minimized disruption to the surrounding wetland. The Region also built an entire new wetland on Halls Road (expansion of the Lynde Shores Conservation Area) to mitigate the portion of wetland that was lost to the road widening work.

For more information on Durham Region’s previous and upcoming public works projects, visit: Public Works Projects – Region of Durham.

To learn more about The OPWA Public Works Project of the Year Award, visit Project of the Year and Individual Awards.

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