The lead of an initiative to replace pavement on a section of Hamilton’s Barton Street with gardens and permeable surfaces says they’re halfway done after volunteers removed chunks of concrete on the weekend.
Helena Cousins, project coordinator with local non-profit Green Venture, says as of Monday there’s not a lot to see after panels of concrete and patches of asphalt on city owned land around Barton and Emerald Street North were pulled out during a two-hour session Saturday.
“We usually try to find places that are exactly like that, they’re underutilized for what they could be used for,” Cousins told 900 CHML’s Good Morning Hamilton.
“Usually they’re a little bit worse for wear and we see the opportunity for an improvement.”
The “Depave Paradise” venture on the weekend was funded from the city’s Ward 3 capital budget and aims to better stormwater management and cooling of the neighbourhood through the addition of green spaces, providing the filtering of polluted runoff while increasing the natural habitat for birds, bees and butterflies.
“When you have lots of concrete and pavement and a lack of plants with their roots in the ground, water is more abundant and it moves more quickly and directly into the sewer system,” said Cousins.
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“So that’s often picking up everything in its path, whether that’s like oil, garbage and everything, just causing erosion.”
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The operation has been around for a decade, removing 1,435 square metres (15,446 square feet) of surface at 13 sites in the city, contributing to the absorption of an estimated 1.6 million litres of stormwater annually.
Depave Paradise is a nationwide initiative supported by Green Communities Canada – a community-based climate action movement around since 1995.
Cousins says Barton Village is the focus this summers program in which three areas have been converted.
On Saturday, crews will return to begin planting green spaces on the now-cleared strip of the roadway between Sanford North and Birch Avenue.
Depending on funding, the group will be looking at a number of other locations to repeat the process and will select locations based on public feedback.
Volunteers are still being sought for a few limited available spots. Those interested can register through the Green Venture website.
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