Kitchener receives $175,000 for patio-like permeable parking lot
Parking lot situated at Huron Natural Area, set to officially open April 30
A new permeable patio-like parking lot in the city of Kitchener is among 11 sustainability projects in cities across Ontario to receive new federal funding dollars, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities announced Friday.
The city is set to receive $175,000 through the FCM's Green Municipal Fund, meant to help cities tackle climate change and increase environmental sustainability.
"This permeable parking lot will help us understand how effective permeable pavers are for managing impacts to our water quality," Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said in a press release.
The parking lot will act as a test site to assess how effective permeable paving might be to manage water amounts in the city. If successful, the technology could help make the existing storm water system more effective.
By allowing more water to drain into the ground and more warmth to remain in the pavers, the city could also save on the cost of road salt since ice would be less likely to form.
The parking lot will be situated at Huron Natural Area and is set to officially open on April 30 at 1 p.m.
Friday's announcement also saw Waterloo region receive $8 million in federal funding to expand its energy-efficient transit depot on Strasburg Road.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story stated the science incorrectly. While permeable pavers do allow more water to easily drain into the ground, the reason less road salt might be needed is that their permeability also allows more warmth from the ground to penetrate the pavement, warming it, which makes ice less likely to form.Apr 22, 2016 9:23 PM ET