November 2006
Parks + Greenways Donation Program
The City of North Vancouver re-launches its commemorative donation program. Donate a tree, bench or other amenity along the Green Necklace.
Full details here.
In June 2006, the Green Necklace was featured in the Greater Vancouver Regional District's (GVRD) first-ever GreenGuide. This 208-page, pocket-sized guidebook highlights key sustainability features of 111 regional projects, including five from the City of North Vancouver. Design drawings, full-colour photography, and a large-scale folding map enable users to locate City projects that are setting the standard for sustainability.
http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/greenguide
May 2006
Public Art Installation Complete
Atkinson Iconography Studio Limited‘s Yet Another Way to Know That Things Change, Namely: Trees, Ships and Wildlife is now complete. These eight mast-like structures positioned in a colonnade along the Green Necklace, east and west of Lonsdale Avenue support a number of flowering vines growing up draped cables from their garden bases. Text at the garden level references a talisman on each crown, the grouping on the east reflecting on the past and the grouping on the west expressing more contemporary attitudes. Each crown is fitted with solar powered lighting which provides a cool glow after dark.
2005
“Coho Creek” Public Art Installation Complete
Tree Spirits, by Ken Clark, has two locations in the overall composition of Coho Creek. These are at the intersection of Keith Road and Mahon Ave and at the angled intersection on the south side of Keith Road at 13th Street. At the former site, a stump sculpture is a representation of a logged tree. In the later location a concrete sculpture of rocks split apart by roots reveals two spirit figures.
The Mosaic River, by Bruce Walther, is part of 'Coho Creek' (beside the stump above) and represents a salmon stream that may have existed at this site before asphalt and concrete covered it. The cycles of nature can be seen here as Red-coloured coho head upstream to spawn while young fry swim downward toward the ocean.
12 December 2005
Phase One Completion
Before + After Photos
Remember Keith Road and Victoria Park before the Green Necklace? This 2 minute slide show takes you on a tour of phase one of the Green Necklace, before and after completion.
View before + after slide show.
12 December 2005
Green Necklace Gardens Project
The Green Necklace Gardens were officially opened by Mayor Sharp on November 9th 2005. 250 students from Queen Mary School participated in the design and planting of naturalized areas and rain gardens along the Green Necklace route at the corner of Keith Road and Mahon Avenue. The project was facilitated by Evergreen and co-funded through a Green Streets Canada grant.
View slide show (PDF) of the opening event.
10 October 2005
Green Streets Canada - Green Necklace Gardens Celebration
9 November 2005
2:30pm - 3pm
Queen Mary School
With assistance from the Tree Canada Foundation, the City and Evergreen have collaborated in a community greening project along the Green Necklace. The project's w ork to-date has involved tree planting and rain garden construction and, seminars with seven separate classes from Queen Mary School facilitated by Evergreen. The seminars have focused an ultimate goal of Queen Mary students designing and planting five different sites along the Green Necklace, proximate to their school.
Come celebrate with students, staff and community members of Queen Mary Community School who participated in planning and planting the gardens at the intersection of Keith and Mahon. This short event will kick off at 2:30 in front of Queen Mary School.
For more information refer to 27 July 2005 Project Update.
30 September 2005
Construction Update - Phase One now complete!
The construction of Phase One of the Green Necklace is now complete. A total of 2.2km of pathways, street trees, landscape and ecological enhancements have now been implemented.
Thank you for your understanding and patience during the construction period.
22 September 2005
Green Necklace garners Georgia Straight's "Best of Vancouver" Honours
Each year, the popular arts and entertainment weekly recognizes the best that Vancouver has to offer. This year the Green necklace was highlighted as the "Best Urban Greening" project on the North Shore.
Check out the full article here.
9 September 2005
Construction Update
The contractor has experienced some delays primarily due to problems with the irrigation systems installation that have now been sorted out. Most of the planting has now been placed. The project is expected to be substantially complete on September 9, 2005.
Upcoming Green Necklace activities:
- Planting at the intersection of Keith and Mahon as part of an innovative community project this fall in partnership with Evergreen. Stay tuned for more news.
- Public artwork installation at Lower Keith and Lonsdale
29 July 2005
'Greening' the Necklace
Over the next few weeks you will see a significant amount of planting occur along the Phase One route of the project. The plants are currently being stored at a nursery in the Fraser Valley (pictured) and are awaiting completion of final grading for planting. In addition over 7kg of wildflower seed will be seeded in perennial and shrub areas. In total over 10,000 plants will be planted in the next few weeks, here's a breakdown of the numbers: - 3488 perennials
- 3322 shrubs
- 1848 grasses
- 680 ferns
- 460 annuals
- 211 street trees
27 July 2005
Construction Update
Green Necklace is Nearing Completion
Construction on the Green Necklace is nearing completion with multi-use trail paving complete and streetscape improvements on Lonsdale wrapping up in the next couple weeks. The bus stop on Lonsdale Ave west side between Upper and Lower Keith is now open and re-paving of Keith Road around Victoria Park is now complete.
The final phases of construction work will involve landscape installations including: soils and grading, street trees, shrubs and perennials, grass seeding; irrigation installation and completion of rain gardens and bio-swales. This work should be complete by the end of August; the planting of some areas may be delayed until the cooler weather in the fall.
27 July 2005
Green Necklace Receives Tree Canada Foundation's Green Streets Grant
The City's has been the recipient of another grant recognizing its leadership and commitment to green infrastructure through the implementation of the Green Necklace project. Tree Canada Foundation has awarded the project $20,000 and the City has been designated a Green Streets Community for 2005-06.
This grant will fund a collaborative community design process, facilitated by Evergreen and in partnership with Queen Mary School, for the design and planting of naturalized areas and rain gardens and the development of interpretive signage along the Green Necklace route.
View full report (PDF)
28 June 2005
Green Necklace receives GVRD's Sustainability Enterprise Fund Grant
The City of North Vancouver has received the GVRD's 2005 Sustainability Enterprise Fund (SEF) grant for innovative storm water management components of Phase One of the Green Necklace. The City received $25,000, the maximum grant available for projects deemed to have region-wide benefits.
The municipalities of the GVRD share a common interest in developing sustainable communities in the region. Innovation is essential to creating sustainable communities, but also requires investment of resources and management of risks and uncertainty associated with new enterprises. The GVRD established the SEF fund to assist municipalities to share the risks and benefits associated with pursuing sustainability approaches in their core business functions.
The City's Green Necklace project was one of 14 municipal projects that received SEF funding in the GVRD.
01 June 2005
Donate a Bench on the Green Necklace
The City will be launching a Commemorative Program for the Green Necklace in early 2006. Check Get Involved for details.
30 May 2005
Construction Update
Construction on Phase I of the Green Necklace is continuing to move along the Phase One route from west to east. Portions of the Green Necklace, west of Lonsdale Avenue are nearing completion with the paving of the multi-use trail and grass seed and street trees installed. Green Necklace construction is being sequenced with other important infrastructure upgrades. In addition to the construction of the multi-use trail and associated environmental upgrades, construction of new curb and gutter, sidewalks and road repaving along Lonsdale Avenue and Keith Road is continuing. Both vehicular and pedestrian traffic are affected by these activities. Minor delays, temporary road and sidewalk closures will occur. Please pay extra attention to warning signage, flag people, workers and equipment.
We appreciate your patience during this construction period.
16 May 2005
Green Necklace Public Information Meeting
On Saturday May 7 th , 2005 Staff held a Public Information Meeting at Queen Mary School regarding the Green Necklace and associated infrastructure upgrades. The purpose of the meeting was to provide further information to the community on the project, project construction and the process that lead up to the project.
The meeting began with a short background presentation (2.5mb PDF) on the project followed by approximately 90 minutes of open discussion, where the approximately 35 attendees, asked questions, raised concerns, points and observations. Discussion centred around the following general themes:
- Sequencing with other infrastructure upgrades
- Multi-use nature of the trail
- Transportation improvements and traffic calming
- Sustainability components of the project
- Project costs, grants and phasing
Staff are following up on several outcomes of the meeting, specifically around access to information and the project website (www.greennecklace.org) from www.cnv.org and improved notification of future public meetings through additional means i.e. letter mail addressed directly to property owners.
27 April 2005
Green Necklace Public Information Meeting
Date: Saturday, May 7, 2005
Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Place: Queen Mary School, 230 West Keith Road, Music Room
Please join North Vancouver City staff for an information session on this important City project. Staff will be available to answer questions and listen to concerns regarding the Green Necklace project, the session will begin with a short presentation on the project.
25 April 2005
Construction Update
Construction on Phase I of the Green Necklace is well underway, the pleasant spring weather has allowed the project to stay on schedule.
In order to manage the process better the construction Phase I has been broken down into two zones - A and B. Construction on Zone A - Keith Road west of Lonsdale to Jones Avenue was begun first and is expected to be complete by mid May 2005. Construction in Zone B - Keith Road east of Lonsdale to St. Andrew's Avenue will begin in full the week of May 2 nd and is expected to be complete in early July 2005.
It is important to note that Green Necklace construction is being sequenced with other important infrastructure upgrades such as storm water utilities, roadway upgrades, streetscapes and park lighting. This means excavation activities in and along Keith Road and in Victoria Park will occur, this will result in detours, temporary parking restrictions and delays. Please pay extra attention to warning signage, flag people, workers and equipment.
We appreciate your patience during this construction period.
22 March 2005
City of North Vancouver Receives $250,000 Grant
Provincial Support for Green Necklace
More information see City of North Vancouver Newsroom
News Releases
07 March 2005
City of North Vancouver Wins Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Award for Green Necklace Project
More information see City of North Vancouver Newsroom
News Releases
03 March 2005
Construction Update
Construction of Phase I of the Green Necklace will begin Tuesday, March 8th, 2005. The contractor will begin by preparing the site for the various components of the project. Site preparation will involve, tree removal, demolition of retaining walls in Victoria Park and various other excavations. Project information signs have been placed along the route, notices are being delivered to residents adjacent to construction areas and a City View community ad will be in this Sunday’s North Shore News.
Construction of Phase I will begin west of Lonsdale and work its way east. Construction will focus on areas around Queen Mary School over spring break to take advantage of school closures during this period.
16 February 2005
Phase I Construction to start in February 2005
Construction of the Green Necklace will begin in February 2005 and will take approximately 4 months to complete, weather depending. Phase 1 construction will be combined with the re-paving of Keith Road. Temporary parking restrictions, detours and delays will occur, however, adjacent residents and businesses will be notified 7 days in advance of any disruptions. During construction pay extra attention to flag people, workers and equipment. We will strive to minimize any inconvenience the work may have on the neighbourhood’s day to day activities. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
16 February 2005
What to expect with Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Green Necklace consists of a 3metre wide multi-use path along Keith Road from Jones Avenue to St. Andrew’s Avenue.The multi-use path will be built on existing City right-of-way and parkland. Portions of Keith Road around Victoria Park will be narrowed to accommodate the path, leaving a safe road width for vehicle movement and parking. A small number of trees will need to be removed to accommodate the path, although most will be relocated nearby. Street trees and traffic calming measures such as intersection curb extensions, raised crosswalks and pavement markings will also be implemented to enhance the greenway and improve safety.
