PROJECT HISTORY
The challenge
Design 10 new stations for urban, partially urbanized, and suburban contexts, and foster development along an 18-kilometre transitway with context-sensitive design.
Mississauga Transitway
Delivering a ten-station, systemwide design, that transforms Mississauga’s suburban transit experience
The solution
We developed three station prototype designs with a unifying architectural language for each geographic typology; elevated, submerged or at-grade.
The impact
The design tackles urban growth challenges by establishing an integrated, systemwide identity and fostering neighbourhood connections which increases ridership and promotes active, sustainable transportation.
5m
transit users in first year of service
7 hubs
direct connection to Pearson Airport
The challenge
The Mississauga Transitway is a two-lane, predominantly grade-separated, 18-kilometre Bus Rapid Transit system that serves the City of Mississauga while integrating into the key transit corridors of the Greater Toronto Area. The project includes 10 new stations and have a prominent aesthetic and context-sensitive design approach that form the foundation of an emerging regional transit identity.
One of the key design challenges was to develop a strategy to situate the station entrances and platforms within three contrasting geographic contexts. These areas respond to communities that are either undergoing urbanization, are partially urbanized, or are predominantly suburban.
The Transitway stations are a catalyst for future urban development; It is essential that each station is designed to be contextually appropriate to their surroundings.
The solution
Arcadis developed three station prototype designs with a unifying architectural language for each geographic typology; elevated, submerged or at-grade. At each station the prototype design was adapted to the neighboring condition, including road alignments, location of multi-use paths, and existing and future commercial, institutional, and residential developments.
The design includes a predominantly glass façade to bring in light and provide visual transparency across the stations; a dynamic roof structure with wood paneling to animate the interior space and create a warm material palette; integrated public art that enlivens the space with colour; an urban plaza adjacent to each entrance to enhance the public realm and create a landmark feature; a green wall at the platform level to enhance the waiting area; and the same sequence of spaces within the station to assist with wayfinding, safety, and visual branding.
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The landscape design prioritizes pedestrian and cyclist connectivity by creating convenient and safe routes through the sites as well as connections to the surrounding community and multi-use trail system. Busway retaining walls, hydro corridors, existing pipelines, and Highway 403, posed significant challenges to achieving connectivity and creating a sense of place. Therefore, a green wall was used as a strategy to soften the edges of the hardscape created by the vertical retaining wall. This garden feature uses lush amounts of Ivy, supported by tension wires, to create a terraced green wall aesthetic.
Ambitious, bold, and integrated, the Mississauga Transitway will direct the future growth of the city by linking communities, encouraging a balanced development of land use and supporting a city where people can live, work, and play.
The impact
The design of the Mississauga Transitway addresses the City’s need to support current and future transportation challenges arising from the rapid growth and increasing urbanization of a city that was planned as a car-centric suburb. The project’s success in this complex environment lies in its focus on enhancing the user-experience through integrated design, establishing a systemwide identity, and fostering neighborhood connections.
This award-winning project has significantly increased transit ridership by providing a preferred alternative to cars, while also promoting active transportation through improved pedestrian access and accommodating various modes of connection including walking and cycling.
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Furthermore, the Transitway is designed to be environmentally responsible. Multiple strategies are used at each station to mitigate stormwater impacts and enhance water quality through on-site management and bio-treatment. Energy consumption is minimized through automation, and materials were carefully selected to be free of harmful chemicals while ensuring maximum service life with minimal maintenance requirements.
