The Engineering Division is responsible for design and supervision of construction or reconstruction of roads, sidewalks, sewers, and watermains, including survey, locates, and inspection activities for work done within our municipal rights of way.
Engineering Division Staff work with owners, residents, contractors, consultants and others to manage and improve the infrastructure we use every day, including development review, project management, traffic control, AutoCAD and other engineering functions.
We manage the contract with the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) to operate and maintain the City of Stratford Water Pollution Control Plant for our sewer system. Our goal is that treated wastewater does not harm the environment when it leaves the plant.
For information on our current construction projects, please visit the Engage Stratford website.
Infrastructure, Transportation and Safety Sub-committee Updates |
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Updates are provided by Staff to the Infrastructure, Transportation and Safety Sub-committee at each meeting.
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Street Light Issues |
| With more than 4,300 street lights to maintain, we appreciate your help in identifying street lights that are not working properly. If you notice street lights that are always on, always off, cycling or in need of repair, please contact the City's contractor, Festival Hydro at 519-271-4700 or fill out a service request. |
Locate Requests - "Click Before You Dig" |
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If you are planning to dig, build, or excavate on your property, you are required by law to locate all of your utility lines first. It is important to complete this step to ensure safety for you, workers, and our community. Should a line, pipe or wire be impacted by a dig, it can cause serious damage, and may cause you harm. You may also be held liable for any costs involved in repairing damaged infrastructure if you don’t have valid, completed locates. Please request your locates through Ontario One Call at least two weeks before you plan to dig, especially during the spring and summer months. This will ensure enough time to locate all utility information before you begin your project. Following your request through Ontario One Call, the City will either clear the locate request (meaning that your work will not impact any City-owned buried infrastructure), or mark it onsite with paint, flags or stakes. When complete, you will receive a locate notice through email with the results. Please note that the City only completes locates for municipally owned infrastructure. Locates will not be completed for private property, and you may be required to hire a private utilities locator to determine if there are other buried utility lines on your property. You may also need a street permit or municipal consent from the City if you are working in or near the municipal right-of way. If you are unsure, please contact us ahead of your project to discuss. Colour Code Chart for Underground Utility Flags, Paint or Stakes:
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Pavement Condition Evaluation Report |
| The City of Stratford is responsible for the maintenance and rehabilitation of approximately 400 lane kilometers of streets. In order to assess the current condition of the City streets, a pavement condition survey and report was conducted by GM BluePlan (GMBP) in June 2022. |
Engineering for Development |
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Engineering reviews Subdivision Designs, Site Plans, and other Development related applications to ensure roads, sidewalks, sewers, and watermains are constructed according to City and Provincial standards. We conduct inspections to ensure subdivision sewers, watermains, roads, and sidewalks are constructed following the standards. Floodplain StudiesCourt and McNamara Drain Floodplain Study (2007) Report and Exhibits 1 through 4 are available by request. Please send us an email to request these documents. Roadhouse Drain Master Drainage Plan (2007) Report and Exhibits 1 through 4 are available by request. Please send us an email to request these documents. |
City of Stratford Infrastructure Standards and Specifications |
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The Infrastructure Standards and Specifications Manual is updated annually to accommodate new technologies, methodologies and materials considered by the City of Stratford. Standard Drawings outline typical designs used by the City of Stratford. The Design Criteria for Authorized Alterations under CLI-ECA are the design criteria set out by the MECP. PLEASE NOTE: The Infrastructure Standards and Specifications Manual has more stringent criteria and design requirements than some of the specs in the MECP design criteria. In these cases, the City's Specifications Manual will always override the specs in the MECP document. Development and construction must also be aware of source protection for protecting vulnerable areas and municipal water systems. For more information, please consult with the Thames-Sydenham Source Protection Plans. |
Municipal Consent Requests |
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Any ground disturbance work within the City of Stratford owned right-of-way, including but not limited to digging of any kind (such as installing conduit/cables, trenching, or directional drilling), cutting or removing sidewalk panels, and cutting or removing section of asphalt roadways or walkways, requires a Municipal Consent. The Municipal Consent allows the City to track all ground disturbance within the right-of-way, and ensure that restoration and repairs are completed as appropriate. To apply for a Municipal Consent, please complete the Municipal Consent application form, and submit it by email or in person at the City Hall Annex (82 Erie Street, 3rd floor). When filling out the form, you may need to reference the City's Infrastructure Standards and Specifications. If approved, all directives and comments provided by the City must be in compliance throughout the construction period. |
Street Permit Requests |
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A Street Permit is required prior to any occupation of the City of Stratford sidewalk, boulevard, or roadway for non-ground disturbance activities such as temporary storage of materials, operation of construction equipment, storage of disposal bins, landscape work or driveway apron work. There is a $65.00 charge for Street Permit Applications (per Schedule E of the Fees & Charges By-law). To apply for a Street Permit, please complete the Street Permit application form, and submit it, along with a Certificate of Liability Insurance (please email to request the Certificate of Liability Insurance form) and a copy of your WSIB Insurance by email or in person at the City Hall Annex (82 Erie Street, 3rd floor). The Permit will not be issued until payment has been received, either by cash, cheque, or credit card. If approved, all directive and comments provided by the City must be in compliance throughout the occupation or construction period. A copy of the permit must be available on site at all times, and City Inspectors or Public Works Staff may request to view the permit to confirm compliance. |
Transportation Master Plan |
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The City of Stratford's most recent Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was adopted by Council in November 2023. A TMP is a long-range planning document that will guide changes to the City's transportation system, for all modes of travel, over the coming decades. The TMP also identifies transportation policies and strategies that, when combined with recommended infrastructure projects, will help the City achieve its vision for the future. The TMP supports a multi-modal transportation system for the City of Stratford, improving mobility options for all people. Multi-modal transportation refers to the variety of ways people and goods get around. A multi-modal transportation system includes cars, public transit, cyclists, pedestrians, and trucks (commercial goods movement). The Transportation Master Plan Summary Report contains fifty-four recommendations for the City’s pedestrian, cycling and street networks, transit, and supporting strategies including Vision Zero, land use planning, and traffic calming, among others. Implementation costs and priority projects have been identified for the short-, medium-, and long-term time frames, and a plan for monitoring progress and updates is also included. Documents relating to the Transportation Master Plan include: |
Sanitary Master Plan |
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The City of Stratford is updating the 2003 Sanitary Master Plan to ensure the City’s sanitary sewer infrastructure continues to support the growing Stratford community now and in the future. The Master Plan update will review and analyze existing conditions and plan for Stratford’s projected population growth. The Master Plan will define needed improvements or increases to the current system’s capacity, and identify opportunities for improving efficiency. The Sanitary Master Plan develops a 20-year guide to capital projects and program implementation, prioritizes opportunities for infrastructure renewal projects, and identifies the cost of proposed infrastructure improvements in a 5-year plan. |