Green design
The City of Vancouver is exploring ways to make our streets more sustainable from both a social and environmental perspective. Environmentally, this means thinking about how to allow stormwater runoff filter back into the ground instead of going into our sewers. Simple designs such as planting native plants and street trees between the road and sidewalk can address this issue. Landscaping also reduces air and water pollution, slows vehicles down, and creates an enjoyable street for pedestrians and bicyclists. Our streets should also be designed to accommodate sustainable modes of transportation such as pedestrians and bicycles. Socially, this mean accommodating the physical needs of people with different abilities, creating safer roads, and engaging communities to get involved in greening their street.
Designing sustainable streets requires thinking purely beyond the project’s up-front costs. Factoring in elements such as paving materials, how the street encourages different transportation modes, safety, natural stormwater management, human health and lead to long-term cost savings. Implementing infiltration curb bulges, for instance, may be more expensive than keeping the street as it is, but in the long run actual cost savings may result because of reduced stormwater runoff (bulges planted with native plants will absorb and filter runoff from the street, diverting water from entering into the sewer system) and possible car accidents (bulges reduce the width of a pedestrian crosswalk making it safer to cross the street; cars may also reduce their speeds because of the narrower street). If enough bulges are put in along a street, the improved pedestrian environment may encourage more people to walk and bicycle on the street, increasing human health, reducing green house gases and water pollution, and minimizing road wear and tare.
Green projects
The City has developed several successful green projects.