Cross-posted from Eye Daily.
This week, I wrote about a group called Green Here that is working to reforest its Davenport neighbourhood. One of the group’s founders, Andrea Dawber, discovered that a good way to get money to improve public space is to piggy back on road reconstruction projects. Whenever a street undergoes reconstruction, money for public space is included in the transportation budget, she says. Unfortunately, the city doesn’t have the resources to consult with the community to decide what to do with it.
“I would say the majority of councillors don’t even know [that this money] exists,†says Dawber. “The transportation budget is huge. It’s really potentially the biggest source of funding to redevelop public space.â€
Over the past couple of years, Green Here has worked with the city to get new trees planted when roads were resurfaced or narrowed. When the trucks and construction crew are already out, projects like this are cheaper to do, a point that’s been made by other public space organizations such as the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT). In a survey they conducted prior to November’s municipal election, TCAT asked candidates if they would support a process to review road reconstruction and resurfacing projects to ensure improvements to the cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
“Toronto spends millions of dollars every year reconstructing and resurfacing roads and most of these are done without making changes to the cycling and pedestrian environment. This is a missed opportunity,†TCAT wrote in the questionnaire.
Which brings me to all those articles in yesterdays papers on all the major road reconstruction projects we can expect to happen this year. Perhaps they hold clues to opportunities for planting trees or making improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.
Both the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun published lists of the top 10 biggest road reconstruction projects scheduled to happen this year, but you could also call your city councillor to find out about road construction to take place in your neighbourhood.
