Montreal sponge parks soak up the storm

After over 100 millimetres of rain pummelled Montreal Wednesday evening, some Montreal streets saw less flooding, and sponge parks played a big part in soaking up the precipitation.

Standing in Dickie-Moore Park, a sponge park in the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough, City of Montreal spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said he received good feedback from neighbours and merchants.

"It's usually flooded often here, and yesterday, there was no flood on the street," said Sabourin. "The thing is, this sponge park really works."

He explained that the water is attracted to the park because it is located at a lower point in the neighbourhood. The water is then kept within the park to nourish trees, plants and other vegetation and away from the sewers.

Video on social media shows the sponge park Fleurs-de-Macadam efficiently draining water from the street.

The City of Montreal currently has seven sponge parks.

Thirty more parks are set to be built by 2025, and next year, Larivière Street in the Ville-Marie borough will be turned into the city's first sponge street, which follows the same principles as a sponge park.

Another bigger sponge park in Verdun on Dupuis Street near Saint-Joseph Street is currently being built.

"The idea is to build green infrastructure in order to keep the water into the infrastructure instead of having pavement, concrete, where the water will be dragged into the sewer system," said Sabourin.

In Lachine, Brewster Park is in the process of being turned into the borough's first sponge park.

Construction within the park itself is set to begin in August and end in spring 2025, but according to borough mayor Maja Vodanovic, the sidewalks and roads have already been renovated.

"From Victoria Avenue, all the way from Broadway, all the water that is going to be accumulated on the road is going to into draining sidewalks," she explained. "We made all the sidewalks larger and we put a slope in the sidewalks so that water on the street can go in the grass and feed the trees."

Vodanovic said that making draining sidewalks is cheaper than the traditional sidewalks, which have a cement border that stops water from infiltrating.

Spanning 110 cubic metres, Brewster Park is one of the smaller water retention parks. Larger sponge parks reach 10,000 cubic metres.

"What we want is, throughout Montreal, every park that is to be redone, every sidewalk that is to be redone, we want it to be systemically turned into a sponge sidewalk or a sponge park," Vodanovic said.

The next phase of construction for Brewster will include a basin. Play areas for children will also be built.

"When there's water, kids will be able to play there because there will be big rocks, so kids will be able to jump from rock to rock and even when it's dry, there will be water games," said Vodanovic, who noted there currently are no splash pads in Lachine.

Sabourin said that while sponge parks are one step towards better water management, other measures need to be implemented.

"Green infrastructure is a part of our plan," said Sabourin. "But we need to build bigger sewer system, and to construct water tanks in order to keep the water and treat it once the storm goes away."