Green Streets
Organization: City of Toronto
Year of Publication: ongoing
Type of green infrastructure: Stormwater Management
Summary: Green Streets are roads or streets that incorporate green infrastructure, which includes natural and human-made elements such as trees, green walls, and low impact development (LID) stormwater infrastructure that provide ecological and hydrological functions and processes.
"Traditional" streets are designed to direct stormwater into storm sewer systems (gutters, drains, pipes) that discharge directly into surface waters, rivers, and streams. "Green" streets are designed to capture rainwater at its source, where it falls, providing water for plants and trees to grow and at the same time acting as a natural filter to clean the water before it makes its way into local waterways.
Toronto has approximately 5,600 km of streets - almost ¼ of Toronto's total land area is covered by streets. Historically, streets have formed an impermeable paved layer on top of green space, which prevent natural hydrological cycles and increase the volumes of runoff entering our stormwater infrastructure.
When stormwater flows along streets and other hard surfaces it picks up dirt, oil, grease and other pollutants. Green Street projects provide a place for stormwater to soak into the ground providing water for plants and trees to grow. At the same time, plants and soil act as natural filters cleaning the water before it makes its way into local waterways.
