City eyes Broadway tree canopy support plan

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This article was published 01/03/2023 (929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A plan to protect the tree canopy on Broadway could soon become a reality, pending council approval.

The $5.4-million Trees on Broadway project aims to protect iconic American elms planted along the street in the early 1900s. Some have already died due to environmental stress and disease, while the City of Winnipeg warns replanting in current conditions on the busy route doesn’t support long-term growth.

A new report proposes a financial plan to add infrastructure that better supports trees, through an up-to-$3.09-million federal grant, up to $694,500 from each of the city’s urban forest and regional and local street renewal programs, and up to $942,000 of Manitoba Hydro funding (which the city received as compensation for transmission-line tree removal).

“Broadway Avenue is an iconic tree-lined corridor in downtown Winnipeg… Due to the area’s age, historic significance and prominent location, the elms along Broadway hold special significance for Winnipeg residents and visitors,” the report notes.

If council approves the proposal, the project would replace some concrete with a modular suspended pavement system, which would still support weight but also offer underground space for soil to assist tree growth and help store rainwater.

Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of council’s public works committee, said she plans to support the funding, due to the benefits for the urban canopy.

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“I think this is a spectacular project. It’s expensive because of the concrete and the non-permeable surfacing… (but) in an urban environment, trees (have) a cooling effect on the city, they reduce carbon, they provide habitat for birds and creatures,” said Lukes.

The report notes the cheapest way to add the infrastructure is to pair it with street rehabilitation work on Broadway, which is planned to take place in 2023-24. The report notes the city still needs the province to extend a construction deadline beyond Oct. 31 to ensure its portion of the street renewal funding, which has been formally requested.

If the province doesn’t approve that change in time, other street renewal funding could cover any shortfall, the report says.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.