Streets and Lights

Smart streets and lighting are part of building a sustainable Vancouver.

Asphalt

Staff in a number of branches of Engineering Services worked together to design, produce and install an asphalt mix that is 95 per cent recycled. Because asphalt is a petroleum-based product, it pays, both financially and environmentally to recycle as much as possible. By reducing the amount of new product, these creative minds improved air quality by reducing the demand for trucking of new materials and for the disposal of the re-usable material. Of course, by reusing the old material, there was less demand for new oil and for space in the landfill.

Drainage

Conventional streets are designed for rain water to drain into sewers instead of being allowed to be absorbed into the environment naturally. Managing this storm water can help to improve the water quality, to provide water to nearby streams and vegetation, and to reduce the peak demands of our storm sewer systems. Streets Design is working towards urban sustainability by addressing storm water management in many ways.

Green streets

The Green Streets Program offers Vancouver residents an opportunity to become volunteer street gardeners in their neighbourhoods by sponsoring a traffic circle or corner bulge garden. This creates not only a more colourful and natural street and a more personalized neighbourhood, but also encourages and promotes a sense of community pride and ownership which ultimately benefits the entire city.

Greenways

Greenways are linear public corridors for pedestrians and cyclists that connect parks, nature reserves, cultural features, historic sites, neighbourhoods and retail areas. Vancouver's greenways expand opportunities for urban recreation, provide alternate ways to move through the city, and enhance the experience of nature, community and city life.

Street and Traffic Lighting

The conversion of almost 30,000 street lighting fixtures from incandescent and mercury vapour bulbs to high pressure sodium bulbs under the BC Hydro PowerSmart Program has resulted in savings of 12.2 million kilowatt hours of energy and $700,000 annually.

LED technology was introduced to the City’s 700 traffic signals through a PowerSmart Program resulting in 80 to 90% less energy consumption than conventional bulbs and an increased life expectancy of seven to ten times longer with an annual savings of $250,000.