PLAN 5000 Darryl McGrath B00689518 Instructor: Ahsan Habib Daylighting in Halifax’s Urban Core A case study-based analysis of the proposed daylighting of Sawmill River in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Executive Summary River daylighting projects are becoming an increasingly popular way for cities to reshape their urban environment in an attempt to achieve multi-faceted beneficial outcomes. Several high- profile daylighting projects in recent years (such as those in Seoul, South Korea and Yonkers, New York) have brought this type of urban restoration closer to the mainstream consciousness. These cases and others are reviewed to gain an understanding of the processes, potential benefits and challenges, motivations, and common results that might be expected from the undertaking of a river daylighting project. This is done specifically to inform what the potential might be for a daylighting initiative in the Halifax urban core area. Sawmill River in Dartmouth is a timely candidate for daylighting and the push is on during the formation of this report for the city to decide how to proceed. After reviewing the local conditions in Dartmouth (the suitability of the site, the specific relevant goals of the proposed project, the policy context, the financial case and the local climate of the citizenry) this report confidently recommends the Sawmill River for daylighting. This project has the potential to provide Dartmouth with an array of significant benefits as the city contemplates how to reinvigorate itself. It is high time for the Halifax government to take a bold step and enable Dartmouth to engage in this unique endeavour that aligns Figure 1: Conceptual rendering of historical river course. greatly with municipal planning strategies and sustainability goals. 1 Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 1 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Background ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Methods and Findings ................................................................................................................................... 7 Case Studies .............................................................................................................................................. 7 The Cheonggyecheon River, Seoul, South Korea .................................................................................. 7 Valley Creek – Port Angeles, Washington ........................................................................................... 11 Saw Mill River – Yonkers, New York .................................................................................................... 12 Jenkins Creek – Maple Valley, Washington ........................................................................................ 14 Arcadia Creek – Kalamazoo, Michigan ................................................................................................ 16 Summary of Case Studies .................................................................................................................... 18 The Case for Halifax ................................................................................................................................ 20 Candidate Waterways ......................................................................................................................... 20 Sawmill River – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia ............................................................................................ 20 Goals for a Daylighted Sawmill River .................................................................................................. 22 Combined Stormwater Handling and Fish Passage ............................................................................ 22 Park space Allocation and Greenspace Connectivity .......................................................................... 23 Economic Returns and Urban Revival ................................................................................................. 24 Additional Motivating Factors............................................................................................................. 25 Policy Considerations .......................................................................................................................... 26 The 2014 Halifax Regional Municipal Planning Strategy..................................................................... 26 Department of Fisheries and Oceans – Fish Passage requirements ................................................... 27 HRM Policy on Daylighting Rivers ....................................................................................................... 27 2013 Secondary Planning Strategy for Downtown Dartmouth .......................................................... 27 Financial Considerations ..................................................................................................................... 28 The Local Climate ................................................................................................................................ 28 Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 30 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 32 References .................................................................................................................................................. 33 Figure references .................................................................................................................................... 36 2 List of Figures Figure 1: Conceptual rendering of historical river course. ........................................................................... 1 Figure 2: Evolution of a daylighted river: natural state, pushed underground by urban development, re- exposed condition. ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 3: The daylighted Saw Mill Rover in Yonkers, New York. .................................................................. 5 Figure 4: Saw Mill River in Yonkers, New York: Subteranian view when the site was a surface parking lot; The same location during winter after daylighting. ...................................................................................... 6 Figure 5: Cheonggyecheon area prior to daylighting with elevated expressway above river course. ......... 8 Figure 6: Children playing on a water feature of the daylighted Cheonggyecheon River. ........................... 9 Figure 7: Re-created estuarine habitat at the Valley Creek outflow in Part Angeles WA. ......................... 11 Figure 8: Local celebrations for the completion of the initial phase of daylighting in Yonkers, NY. .......... 13 Figure 9: Resulting city scape after daylighting the Saw MIll River in Yonkers, NY. ................................... 14 Figure 10: Jenkins Creek in Maple Valley, WA after daylighting efforts. The creek follows a meandering route and natural obstacles and plantings are visible. ............................................................................... 15 Figure 11: Festival site on Arcadia Creek in Kalamazoo, MI. ...................................................................... 17 Figure 12: WaterFire Festival at Waterplace Park, where daylighting occurred at the confluence of the Woonasquatucket, Moshassuck, and Providence rivers. ........................................................................... 19 Figure 13: Historical images surrounding the Saw Mill River site in Dartmouth, NS. The river courses from Sullivan’s Pond to Dartmouth Cove, passing to the right of the church in the bottom right image. ......... 21 Figure 14: Locations along the proposed route for a daylighting project for the Sawmill River in Dartmouth, NS. ........................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 15: The last section of the Sawmill River before it flows into Dartmouth Cove. The building in the background is part the King's Wharf developments. .................................................................................. 24 Figure 16: Cover page of the HRM Policy on Daylighting Rivers................................................................. 27 Figure 17: A selection of recent media coverage surrounding the proposal to daylight the Sawmill River in Dartmouth, NS. ....................................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 18: Current outflow of the culverted Sawmill River in Dartmouth, NS. .......................................... 30 Figure 19: Overlay of current road network over Mike Reid (2012) map that used historic information to retrace natural waterways on the Halifax peninsula. Data