Monique Kealey balances successful career and community volunteerism

Monique (centre) enjoys kayaking with girlfriends

During her first year in pre-med at university, Monique Kealey realized that she possessed a stronger aptitude in physics and calculus than biology. This realization, along with the “sense of belonging and fun” that Monique saw that her engineering friends had, led her to change her academic path. “My family moved from a small town in Saskatchewan to Regina so we could have the opportunity to go to university. As the youngest of eight children, I probably wouldn’t have a degree if they hadn’t made that decision, so I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and make sure I chose a career that was a right fit for me.” Civil engineering appeared to be the more diverse and appealing of the disciplines to Monique. She says, “Civil engineering seemed to be the one discipline that would provide the most opportunity to find a job in any city.”

After graduation, Monique started her career with Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation. Early on in her career she was asked to research the effect of passing lanes as an alternative to twinning the Trans Canada Highway. “This type of research was so new to the department that I had to figure a lot of it out myself and translate broad guidance into specific tasks.” The project was so successful that Monique was invited to present it at the Institute of Transportation Engineers Conference in Toronto.

This project was just the beginning of a successful career in traffic engineering and transportation planning, first with Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation, and then with the City of Regina. As a Transportation Engineer with the City, Monique advises, “The social and political dynamics need to be considered in decisions, as well as the technical aspects. In the fifteen years that I was with the City of Regina, we developed more inclusive processes that recognized the value of understanding residents’ perspectives. I remember receiving a compliment from a resident that I was “very good at diffusing angry residents”, which was a great indication of how I had progressed.”

Although Monique was involved in many projects with the City of Regina, some of which were “turning points to help the City move forward in transportation and bicycle planning”, she did not find the career growth that she was looking for.

During lunch with a former protégé, Angela Hickie-Miller (a Project Manager in Associated Engineering’s Regina office) Monique related that she was looking for a career change and Angela suggested that Monique consider Associated Engineering. “Associated Engineering is a company with strong leadership that values worklife balance and is interested in growing in the area of Transportation Planning. It was a perfect fit!”

Monique’s philosophy is that an engineering perspective is only one perspective when it comes to transportation planning and a multi-disciplinary approach with an open mind creates win-win situations. “Neighborhood Street Layout planning can be particularly challenging because it impacts other disciplines such as land-use planning and development, as well as residents. As engineers, we learn to be problem solvers and we have to learn from our experiences. Good engineers value people and relationships, and are problem solvers that take initiative.”

In projects that Monique has been involved in at Associated Engineering, Monique has taken initiative. She has gathered and presented information that has helped both the team members she works with as well as residents and stakeholders to understand the issues surrounding the implementation of a proposed plan. She has established and developed public and stakeholder consultation processes, and conducted public meetings, needs surveys, public advisory committee meetings, and public open houses. As one client described Monique’s approach, “The public involvement, open house presentations, and final report all set a great example of what should be done.”

As a wife and mother of two teenagers, Monique has found a career at Associated Engineering allows her to balance work and life for her and her family “in a way that works and is fair for everyone.” Outside of the office, Monique is active in her childrens’ hockey and lacrosse and is currently the Communications Director for Queen City Minor Box Lacrosse League and Treasurer for her son’s hockey team. She is also the Communications Director for an Annual Woman’s History Month Reception.

This seems like a lot to balance while working full time, but Monique takes it all in stride. She relates, “It is important in work and life to take care of ourselves. I like the oxygen mask analogy taught for emergency landings. We need to give oxygen to ourselves so we are able to help others get their oxygen.”

Centre Square Bikeway provides a safe, effective, and efficient link to downtown Regina

Centre Square is one of the City of Regina’s vital core communities. The area is bordered by Regina’s downtown to the north and Wascana Park to the south. The City wanted to create a safe and efficient bicycle and pedestrian route for residents of Centre Square to access Regina Downtown, and commissioned Associated Engineering and Crosby Hanna & Associates to plan and design the Centre Square bikeway and pedestrian enhanced routes.

Jointly, the project was managed by the City of Regina’s Project Services and Landscape Design, and Transportation Engineering sections. A Technical Advisory Committee provided a crucial guiding role. The Committee included the consultants, City representatives, Regina Downtown, and Wascana Centre Authority.

Project Manager Monique Kealey advises, “Our project team worked with the community to develop bikeway and pedestrian enhancements for the area. We held a public meeting to introduce the project to the public and to engage their participation in a Public Advisory Committee (PAC).” Consisting of business owners, area residents, cyclists, and pedestrians, the PAC provided critical feedback on initial ideas and helped to determine final layouts and routes. The PAC was also instrumental in providing support for the project at the final open house.

The team gathered information to help them understand the area and the issues surrounding the implementation of a bikeway and an enhanced pedestrian corridor. Existing street and right-of-way conditions were documented using City base information, site reconnaissance, and photo inventory. Neighbourhood and adjacent land uses were mapped. Traffic collision data was examined, existing bus routes were documented, and previously recorded pedestrian counts from Regina Downtown were studied. Counts of vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists were collected in the fall of 2006. The Technical Advisory Committee also took part in a bicycle ride to examine the neighbourhood.

Based on this information, the team developed a number of initial bikeway and pedestrian enhancement layouts, which they presented and discussed with the PAC. Route selections were short-listed based on the bicycle and pedestrian counts, physical characteristics of the streets, land uses within Centre Square and beyond, and recommendations from previous studies. After preliminary discussions and impact analyses were completed, final layouts for two bike lanes and two enhanced pedestrian corridors were determined. The analysis was summarized in a decision making matrix.

The Centre Square Bikeway is the latest addition to the city’s bicycle network with two onstreet bikeways launched on August 22, 2007 using Associated Engineering’s design of the bikeways. More plans are in the works. Recommended plans include converting one of the driving lanes to a Bicycles-Only Lane in the short term, constructing pedestrian enhancements at gateways and central community in the medium to long term, and widening sidewalks and providing pedestrian enhancements in the long term.

Team work, information gathering, and public consultation helped to ensure the project was a success. Dominique Clincke, Coordinator of Landscape Design for the City of Regina states, “Thanks so much to both teams for a great project all around.”

Monique (far right) at the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new Centre Square Bikeway