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Market:
Highways & Streets

Our highways and streets experts take pride in delivering responsive, innovative, and sustainable transportation solutions that respect communities, enhance mobility, and increase the safety of our people and roadways. These solutions include planning local streets and highways, improving the flow of traffic through urban environments, and designing major expressways and tolling facilities. 

Urban has been a recognized leader in roadway design services since our inception. We attribute our excellent reputation to our ability to provide clients with the highest level of professional competence, quality, and commitment.

 

We understand the challenges faced by our clients in managing transportation investment decisions, supporting system preservation, and maintaining quality service. We will work diligently with you to exceed your expectations, mobilizing our team of engineers and planners to assist you in completing your most complex and critical roadway projects. 

Toll Roads/Limited Access

We have been a key player in preserving and rehabilitating some of our country’s oldest and most heavily-traveled limited-access and tolling infrastructure since our inception. Whether the project entails new alignment or the rehabilitation of existing facilities, we work closely with toll authorities and operating agencies to provide multidisciplinary expertise or serve as an extension of agency staff. Our full life-cycle expertise includes all aspects of project development for the widening and reconstruction of toll facilities, from feasibility studies through final design.

 

The professional services we can provide include:

  • Feasibility studies
  • Point of access studies
  • Total reconstruction and widening
  • Rehabilitation
  • Interchange design
  • Toll plaza design
  • Environmental documentation/permitting
  • Intelligent transportation systems
  • Highway and interchange lighting
  • 3D modeling, visualization, and traffic simulation 
  • Design/build
  • Public private partnerships

Roadways

Local roadways are a critical part of the nation’s transportation network, connecting us to our workplaces, schools, shopping, and family and friends. To truly serve us well, they must provide mobility for all users, yet fit within the community.

We work closely with metropolitan planning organizations and officials at the state, county, and local levels to develop projects that balance needs among various modes. Our engineers and planners employ best practices for traffic calming and designing green roads. We can also craft public engagement programs to involve citizens meaningfully at every step of the process.

 

The professional services we can provide include:

  • Complete streets
  • Sustainability
  • Intersection improvements
  • ADA compliance
  • Traffic calming
  • Lighting design 
  • Traffic and intelligent transportation systems
  • Maintenance and protection of traffic
  • Stormwater management
  • Right-of-way design
  • Utilities coordination
  • Environmental documentation/permitting

Roundabouts

Urban’s Traffic Engineering practice includes a team of innovative intersection/interchange design specialists. This team offers peer review, study design, policy development, and design assistance services to help departments of transportation, planning organizations, and local agencies understand and implement these new design techniques.
 
Nationally recognized roundabout expert Mike Mastaglio, PE, PTOE, leads the team. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board Roundabout Standing Committee, Institute of Transportation Engineers National Roundabout Standing Committee, and Every Day Counts Committee.
 
He led the TRB Alternative Intersection Work Group, co-chaired the first National Alternative Intersection and Interchange Symposium, developed a newsletter on innovative geometric design for the ITE Planning Council and provides one- and two-day workshops on innovative geometric design with FHWA as well as research for FHWA on the safety and operational benefits of various innovative intersections.  Mike has also been instrumental in formulating PennDOT District 5-0’s roundabout review procedure process.
 
Members of the innovative design group participate in the FHWA’s Peer to Peer Exchange and Every Day Counts Committee on Intersection and Interchange Geometrics.
 
To learn more about Urban’s roundabout experience, view the projects below.

Construction Services

Every project has its own challenges and goals and our team is equipped to support at every step in the process. Recognizing the clients’ goals, and understanding the intricacies of the construction process and key project components to then implement a successful process to achieve those goals, allows Urban to deliver the visions of both the designer and client.  Our goal is to be our clients’ first choice as partners in building project success.

 

Our nationwide Team knows the industry and what it takes to complete a project successfully - it takes a pro-active approach that aims to identify and manage small problems before they become crises that can adversely impact the progress of the project.  It takes a national Team while maintaining an emphasis on local resources

Bicycle & Pedestrian

Great streets enhance a community’s livability. Properly designed and constructed streetscapes enrich a community’s sense of place and help put larger economic development goals in motion. Businesses want to be located on inviting, well-traveled streets, and people want to frequent safe, attractive, and lively roadways.

Our staff plans, designs, and constructs great streets. Whether it’s two blocks, a corridor, or a city-wide master plan, we provide visioning and planning services to identify problems and develop solutions. We assess how to make streets more bicycle, pedestrian, and transit-friendly, and what traffic calming tools may be needed. Our designs also focus on the key elements and details that make a project successful. We help clients maximize available funding, work within budgets, and phase work as necessary to allow project completion to occur as funding becomes available. Our expertise in project programming, design, cost estimating, and construction allows us to help clients turn their vision into reality.

 

The professional services we can provide include:

  • Master planning
  • Visioning
  • Concept development
  • Public engagement
  • Transit, bicycle, and pedestrian accommodation planning
  • Landscape design concepts
  • Sidewalk improvements
  • ADA compliance
  • Traffic calming
  • Parking strategies
  • Lighting design
  • Implementation strategies
  • Construction management
  • Construction inspection

Streetscapes

Our design professionals are an invaluable project resource. Frequently acting as an extension of our clients’ staffs, our engineers are responsible for managing, directing, and coordinating the efforts of consultant design teams. Our design managers anticipate and address challenges that are likely to be encountered, helping our clients avoid costly delays. Issues that are critical to maintaining a project’s schedule and budget include successfully navigating environmental reviews, permits and approvals, right-of-way clearances, utility relocations, and public engagement. We work to provide seamless communication among all parties.

 

The professional services we can provide include:

  • Design review
  • Design and construction
  • Scheduling cost-estimate review monitoring design costs
  • Meetings utility coordination
  • Right-of-way acquisition
  • Permitting agency coordination
  • Public involvement

Design Management

The design/build project delivery method offers the owner a single point of responsibility, minimizing risk while saving time and money. Whether in response to an emergency or to provide critically needed new or rehabilitated infrastructure with an accelerated schedule, design/build projects allow us to create designer-contractor alliances to work with the best in the field and deliver a more efficient project. Using performance needs, rather than the design minimum requirements, stimulates innovation in design/build projects.

We offer experience in both preparing design/build bid packages for owners and developing final designs for contractors. We understand the increased importance of the schedule on these types of projects and the need for quick responses. As evidence of our expertise, we assisted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation with the writing of its new design/build manual, Innovative Bidding Toolkit Publication 448.

 

The professional services we can provide include:

  • Roadway design
  • Bridge design
  • Traffic signal design
  • Lighting design
  • Hydrology and hydraulics analysis
  • Maintenance and protection of traffic design
  • Erosion and sediment control design
  • Right-of-way design
  • Utility coordination
  • Environmental permitting
  • Constructability
  • Scheduling
  • Construction inspection