“When undertaking infrastructure projects in the City of Victoria, we now ask ourselves what are the opportunities to do business differently so that there will be long-term benefits for the urban watershed,” states Steve Fifield.
'Green Streets' are designed to capture rainfall and reduce rainwater runoff. Jim Dumont compared Seattle's Street Edge Alternative (SEA) approach with a design that the Township of Langley has implemented.
Green Streets Canada is the flagship program of the Tree Canada Foundation, which is a national organization dedicated to raising awareness among Canadians of the importance of Canada’s urban forests.
The street retrofit project includes rain gardens and bioretention ponds that are expected to capture up to 90% of the rainwater runoff.
Citizens are encouraged to beautify their neighbourhoods by adopting and maintaining street gardens in traffic circles and corner bulges. The program began in 1994 as a pilot project in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. The success of the project inspired other neighbourhoods to get involved and liven up their streets.
Emmet McCusker (120p)
When the Town of View Royal hosted the first in the 2008 Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation Series, the day was built around an interactive group exercise using case study examples.
The Town of View Royal has a vision for a regional fibre optic network owned by local government. In an age of senior government downloading, combined with higher community expectations for more and more services, the Town sees a fibre optic network creating opportunities for local government to generate new revenue streams.
When the Corporation of Delta hosted the first event in “Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver: The 2007 Series”, other Metro Vancouver municipalities learned why the slogan “2010 x10” has taken on a life of its own in Delta. The muncipality has mobilized the community to create a truly sustainable Olympic legacy by planting 20,100 trees by 2010.
When the Corporation of Delta hosted the first event in “Showcasing Green Infrastructure Innovation in Metro Vancouver: The 2007 Series”, those who attended were impressed by the progress that Delta is making in enhancing community livability by beautifying streets, one block at a time.
Located at an elementary school opposite Cougar Canyon Environmental Reserve in the Corporation of Delta, this site has a direct impact on the quality of Delta's primary salmon-bearing stream. The entire school population was involved in the creation of the Cougar Canyon Rain Garden, which infiltrates rainwater runoff from the school parking lot.
