With global warming and the loss of biodiversity, scientists are warning us that we are heading straight for a brick wall.
The forest fires in Quebec last year that affected air quality like never before, the extreme heat in Europe that caused the price of olive oil to rise above that of maple syrup, and the torrential rains last week that flooded our basements are striking examples.
There is an urgent need to act, but I see that changes in our behavior remain limited. We must take concrete actions to leave a viable planet for our children.
I propose an idea that would benefit the environment, our quality of life and our wallets. Here is my proposal: eliminate asphalt on residential streets and lower the speed limit to 10 km/h on these streets.
The bitumen would be replaced — only at the end of its useful life — by rock dust (also called “garnotte”). This is not a futuristic technology, because many roads in Quebec are already made of gravel.
According to ETS professor Alan Carter, in the episode of TV news from Radio-Canada on July 16, 2024, when traffic density allows, asphalt is superfluous. Gravel pavements cost about a third to a quarter of the price of asphalt, and materials can be used to limit dust. In addition, since these pavements are lighter than asphalt, they help reduce heat islands.
Since the life expectancy of an asphalt street is 20 years, imagine all the waste and tar that would be saved by this method! We could also make the streets porous, to be able to absorb some of the water brought by storms that we are no longer able to manage through the sewers.
Multifunctional
These new residential streets would be multifunctional, like the portion of Ontario Street in front of Place Simon-Valois near my home. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists would share the same lane, with a speed limit of 10 km/h (like in campgrounds!).
This would eliminate the need to build cycle paths, increase child safety and limit the amount of dust being raised by the very low speed limit.
To limit the impact on car and public transit travel, major arteries would remain paved and maintain their current speed limits. On steep slopes, streets would also be paved, to ensure good traction and safe driving.
This proposal would reduce costs (and, ideally, municipal taxes), reduce the use of (petroleum-based) asphalt, reduce tons of waste, reduce heat islands, act as a sponge during heavy rains, improve safety and take a step towards reducing global warming.