Deep Dive with Felipe Sapateiro
This week, we are highlighting Felipe Sapateiro, a project manager from our Canada transportation business. Felipe joined AECOM after graduating from McMaster University in 2011. With more than 15 years of experience, what sets Felipe apart is his ability to integrate planning, engineering and constructability into a project at the outset. This foresight and big-picture view — from inception to implementation — allows project teams to proactively anticipate and plan for future issues and potential complications. His work encompasses functional design studies, planning, preliminary and detailed design, and serving as owner’s engineer and technical advisor on alternative finance procurements.
One of Felipe’s initial projects was the Highway 401 Expansion from the Credit River to Regional Road 25 in Mississauga, Ontario. Beyond highway improvements, this design-build-finance project also included the complex Highway 401/407 interchange, connecting two major Ontario roadways and the future Highway 413 corridor. He was involved in early preliminary design, progressed as a core member of the owner’s engineer/technical advisor team, and continued through construction and operation. This experience enabled him to advance a major project from early planning through construction and implementation. As residents of Mississauga, Felipe and his family directly benefit from the community improvements resulting from the engineering, environmental consultation and construction on this project.
Tell us about a project that has been a major highlight of your career. How is it delivering a better world?
While working on Highway 401 was a significant step in my career and offered tremendous learning, I recently served as the Deputy Project Manager and Highway Engineer on the Highway 413 Corridor Route Planning Study. This project has given me the opportunity to advance new infrastructure in the Greater Toronto Area. Highway 413 is a new transportation corridor northwest of the City of Toronto being delivered by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to relieve congestion on major highways and improve mobility for those who live and work in the region.
This highway program includes 59 kilometers of new highway infrastructure, including 52 kilometers on Highway 413 and two extensions to nearby Highways 410 and 427. It will provide expanded highway capacity, improved connections between major highways and numerous interchanges — significantly reducing travel times for drivers in nearby regions while enabling better connections between communities. The project also includes active transportation features and potential for future transit.
As Deputy Project Manager and Highway Engineer, I was heavily involved in project management and design, including coordination across multi-disciplinary teams. The design of this corridor is extensive. It includes four freeway-to-freeway and 14 arterial interchanges, over 20 roadway underpasses and overpasses, crossings over the Credit River and the Humber River, numerous watercourse crossings and culverts. Protection for a transitway adjacent to the corridor, including stations and carpool lots, was also considered.
Our team worked proactively with MTO to integrate design standard updates and to reflect stakeholder input from municipalities, conservation authorities and major utilities on key design elements. As part of this large-scale project, we also assisted MTO in identifying corridor segments suitable for early works that could be fast-tracked to detailed design and construction.
To inform the next phase of the project, I was also heavily involved in developing a design and construction phasing strategy, allowing MTO to advance the procurement of the Highway 410 Extension from Mayfield Road to Hurontario Street in the City of Brampton.
As part of this large-scale project, we also assisted MTO in identifying corridor segments suitable for early works that could be fast-tracked to detailed design and construction.
What key challenge did you and your team face on this project? How did you solve it?
A key challenge on a publicly visible project of this magnitude is collecting and responding to input on design elements from surrounding municipalities and key stakeholders across the entire corridor. What’s more, our project team faced emerging geopolitical and regulatory issues, design standard updates, changes in traffic demand, and other concerns that shaped stakeholder input as our work evolved. Through an extensive consultation program delivered in collaboration with MTO, we conducted multiple meetings, workshops, working groups, public information sessions and other communication tactics to facilitate input and feedback. These produced insights into future road improvements, active transportation elements, road servicing, utilities management, future growth strategies and ongoing project coordination.
The early phasing work we completed also helped MTO understand and anticipate potential challenges that might arise along the corridor over the next five, 10 or 15 years. Similarly, it allowed them to identify corridor segments that could be advanced in collaboration with stakeholders to expedite construction, avoid costly temporary works and prevent schedule delays. Beyond stakeholder engagement, we worked with MTO to conduct workshops focused on cost and schedule risk assessment, value engineering and constructability to identify critical risks and develop effective mitigation strategies.
By establishing these dynamic and responsive feedback channels, we maintained consistent interaction and fostered trusted relationships where municipalities and other stakeholders felt heard and understood.
By establishing these dynamic and responsive feedback channels, we maintained consistent interaction and fostered trusted relationships where municipalities and other stakeholders felt heard and understood.
How has this experience shaped your approach to future work and expanded your career at AECOM? What lessons did you learn?
On Highway 413, we effectively incorporated feedback into a preliminary design that aligned with MTO’s vision while respecting stakeholder input. By overcoming numerous technical challenges, evolving landscapes and varying conditions across the project, we learned lessons that will help me anticipate and mitigate challenges on future projects of similar scope and size. For example, during the study, local municipalities were updating their Transportation Master Plans and Official Plans. Given the Highway 413 corridor spans more than 10 municipalities and regions, consultation and review of the plans with stakeholders was critical for them to clearly understand land use changes and impacts of the freeway on local interchanges and road crossings. This allowed MTO to set the baseline for future legal agreements with these municipalities and regions around their road networks and active transportation needs.
The release of updated MTO design standards also meant our design team had to review the entire corridor and update geometrics to meet or exceed these enhanced design requirements. This resulted in a multi-disciplinary review of the corridor, including drainage, environmental, structural and other key elements. We completed this work within a short timeframe and presented a modified design that met MTO’s latest guidelines and standards while still aligning with MTO’s overall project vision.
Working on this project allowed me to truly understand the positive outcomes achieved through early engagement and transparency with municipalities, conservation authorities, utilities, rail operators, transit agencies and others impacted by a major new highway build. As the Highway 413 project progresses to its next phase, those trusted relationships forged with key stakeholders across the highway corridor will help the project advance in a cost-effective, responsible and sustainable manner.
By overcoming numerous technical challenges, evolving landscapes and varying conditions across the project, we learned lessons that will help me anticipate and mitigate challenges on future projects of similar scope and size.
Want to learn more about the Highway 413 project and how it will positively impact Ontario?