To face climate change, the City of Montreal intends to develop nearly 30 parks and 400 so-called “sponge” sidewalks over the next two years to better withstand heavy rains.
The City made the announcement during the “Adaptation Futures” international conference on adaptation to climate change, which began Tuesday morning at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Since 2022, the City of Montreal has developed seven sponge parks, including Place des Fleurs-de-Macadam, in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, and Dickie-Moore Park, in the Parc-Extension district. It also created 800 sponge sidewalks which are in fact vegetated sidewalk projections. She now wants to add 30 parks and 400 sponge sidewalks in 2024 and 2025 in order to slow down the quantity of water that flows into sewer infrastructure during heavy rains.
“The idea is that there are different surfaces in the same place to retain water and allow water from torrential rains to flow more slowly into the ground and reach the sewer network” , explained Mayor Valérie Plante during a press scrum on the sidelines of the scientific congress.
Sponge street pilot project
More and more often, torrential rains overload Montreal’s sewers and put a strain on the city’s infrastructure in addition to causing flooding in homes, as was the case during the episode of torrential rains that occurred At the beginning of july.
Demineralizing public spaces or greening urban environments to allow natural spaces to absorb rainwater is recognized as an effective measure for adapting to climate change.
During a speech before the Council on International Relations of Montreal (CORIM) last week, Mayor Plante also mentioned the idea of creating “sponge streets” by removing asphalt, for example. The administration plans to unveil next week the details of a pilot project which will be developed in the Centre-Sud district, repeatedly affected by flooding in recent years.
“I’m not saying that a sponge sidewalk will solve the problems of flooding or accumulation of water when there are torrential rains that we did not experience in the past. The idea is to put several measures which, together, will be effective,” said Ms. Plante.
These solutions have proven themselves. According to the City, the seven existing sponge parks and 800 overhangs are capable of absorbing the equivalent of two Olympic swimming pools. “But there are particularly difficult areas. The South Centre, for example, is at the bottom of a coast. There is a question of gravity,” said Mayor Plante.
High costs
The City has already set aside funds for its climate change adaptation projects, but the needs are significant for all cities. A year ago, during the Quebec election campaign, the mayors of ten large cities called for a green pact with the government. An Ouranos study carried out at the request of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) determined that the costs of climate change for Quebec cities reached two billion dollars per year. For Montreal, a sum of one billion per year will be necessary, maintains Mayor Plante. “We put more than $500 million into our 10-year capital expenditure plan each year in our waterworks and sewer networks, but we would need double that. » The mayor, however, clarified that the financing for the developments announced Tuesday came from a 117 million agreement signed with Quebec as part of the Plan for a Green Economy.
More than 1,500 international specialists in adaptation to climate change will gather this week at the “Adaptation Futures” conference to discuss best practices for responding to the challenges posed by climate change.
With The Canadian Press