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The Grand Concourse: An Integrated
Walkway System
Additional Information
St. John's Metropolitan Area, Newfoundland and
Labrador
Summary
Organization
Grand Concourse Authority
Status
Started 1989, ongoing
Overview
The Grand Concourse is a 120-kilometre integrated system of
walkways and amenities linking every large park, river, pond and
greenspace in the City of St. John’s and the neighbouring
City of Mount Pearl and Town of Paradise, in the Province of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Grand Concourse offers safe, comfortable, attractive and
accessible routes for pedestrians, cyclists and other active
transportation users. Its 37 interconnected walks include
comprehensive wayfinding and interpretive information, rest areas
and playgrounds. The walks are designed to link major
destinations like schools, seniors’ homes and parks, and
are planned to offer easy access by public transit.
The Grand Concourse Authority, a non-profit organization
established through provincial legislation, develops and manages
the Grand Concourse. The Authority’s members, on whose
lands the walks are situated, include all levels of government,
institutions, foundations, commissions and other local
authorities.
The Authority continuously monitors the walkway’s use and
impacts. Grand Concourse users, of whom there are about 38,000 on
an average summer day, are estimated to spend more than $20
million per year on fixed or incidental items related to their
use of the walkway. There is widespread public knowledge and
appreciation of the Grand Concourse and its benefits for the
community.
The Grand Concourse Authority has made its extensive technical
knowledge, standards and practical experience available to other
groups through a comprehensive Maintenance Management System.
Contact
Neil Dawe, Executive Officer
Grand Concourse Authority
Telephone: (709) 737-1077
Email: info@grandconcourse.ca
Resources
Grand Concourse Authority www.grandconcourse.ca
Community context
The City of St. John’s (population 100,000) and the
neighbouring communities of the City of Mount Pearl (population
26,000) and the Town of Paradise (population 11,000) are situated
at Canada’s easternmost point, an area home to the oldest
European settlement in North America.
The St. John’s region exhibits a relatively dispersed and
low-density development pattern. As in many smaller cities, its
residents are largely reliant on cars to meet their daily travel
needs — fewer than 5% take transit to work, while 6% walk
and fewer than 1% cycle. The region is known for its hilly
terrain and wet weather — two factors that are commonly
cited as disincentives to active transportation modes like
walking and cycling.
Policy context
Reflecting the key dual challenges of climate and terrain, the
City of St. John’s offers limited programs to support
sustainable and active transportation modes. Metrobus, the local
transit system, is the focus of municipal efforts to provide and
promote an alternative to driving for area residents.
The Grand Concourse has been developed to enhance this municipal
context for active transportation. The system serves primarily
recreational walkers and cyclists, but as it grows and links
destinations more effectively it is more likely to serve
utilitarian transportation purposes.
The Grand
Concourse offers barrier-free access, wherever possible
Rationale and objectives
Put simply, the vision of the Grand Concourse is to be a
“walker’s paradise.” The walkway is intended to
encourage public health through physical activity, and to
encourage residents and visitors to experience the natural and
historic beauty of the St. John’s region.
Actions
Creation and mandate
The initiative behind the Grand Concourse sprang largely from the
persistence and generosity of a single benefactor, the Johnson
Family Foundation. In 1989, the Foundation sponsored a Lookout
Project that included a new promenade, upgraded walks and
interpretation on Signal Hill, a National Historic Site above the
entrance to St. John’s Harbour. That project’s
success demonstrated the need for further walks to connect local
attractions, and additional studies were begun.
The first Grand Concourse walk opened in 1993 as one of several
demonstration projects intended to illustrate the Grand
Concourse’s potential and attract member organizations.
In 1995, the Newfoundland legislature passed an Act to
Incorporate the Grand Concourse Authority which stated,
“The purpose of the Authority is to foster, promote and
enable the design, development and operation, by or for the
members, of an integrated network of walkways and amenities on
land owned or occupied by the Members, to be known as the Grand
Concourse.” The legislation also gave the Authority the
power to prepare a master plan, establish priorities for Grand
Concourse development, develop criteria for conservation and
enhancement, and conduct any required scientific, environmental,
economic, tourism and cultural studies.
One aspect of Newfoundland law that has been a key factor in
developing the Grand Concourse is the Newfoundland Lands Act that
places in the public realm all lands within 15 metres of
waterways. This has enabled walkway continuity along and around
rivers, ponds and coastlines.
A map of
the Grand Concourse walkways
Planning and development
The Grand Concourse Authority has placed considerable emphasis on
developing safe, comfortable and attractive walks using
prescribed standards. It relies on professional expertise,
particularly that of landscape architects, at all stages of
planning and design, and makes public participation an integral
part of the planning process. Concept plans are presented to the
public, reviewed and refined before construction begins.
The Grand Concourse walkways are designed for use by pedestrians
foremost, but cycling is also permitted along the Newfoundland
T’Railway, a converted railway line that serves as a major
link between St. John’s, Mount Pearl and Paradise. The
Authority strives to make its walkways accessible to persons in
wheelchairs wherever possible, and special attention is paid to
create safe crossings where trails intersect with the existing
road network.
"Before"
and "after" photos of an at-grade intersection of the
Newfoundland T'Railway and a local road
Wayfinding
The Grand Concourse Authority takes a comprehensive approach to
wayfinding in order to promote use by area visitor and residents.
Along the walkways themselves, there are identification signs to
guide users and as well as interpretive storyboard panels that
offer maps and descriptions of each route, and highlight key
features like rest areas.
The award-winning Walker’s Handbook is a 148-page
interpretive guide to the walkways of the Grand Concourse. It
includes detailed maps and full-colour photographs of all 37
walks in the system, information on the length, duration and
grades of walks, notes on common wildflowers, shrubs and birds,
and histories of prominent buildings and places.
A Grand
Concourse walkway marker
An
interpretive storyboard panel
Links with destinations and other modes
In planning the Grand Concourse, special attention has been paid
to the locations of “people generators” like schools,
hospitals, seniors’ homes, parks and other recreational
facilities. Most area schools are situated close to a
walkway.
The Grand Concourse has parking areas to enable access, but is
also well integrated with Metrobus, the area transit system. The
ability of transit users to easily connect with Grand Concourse
walks has been an important consideration.
Maintenance
The Grand Concourse Authority has created a Maintenance
Management System intended to help agencies and groups in other
communities maintain their own walkway or greenspace systems. The
system has three main elements:
-
Walkway maintenance manual
This collection of concise “how-to” articles
includes bulleted instructions, color photographs, and
detailed diagrams that explain how to maintain walks, trails
and related amenities like benches, stairways and retaining
walls. Recommended standards and frequencies of operation are
given for each procedure. The manual is printed on tear-proof
and water-resistant sheets that can be easily removed and
taken into the field. It can be purchased through the
Authority’s website at www.grandconcourse.ca.
Monitoring
The Grand Concourse Authority continuously monitors the use and
impacts of its walkway system. Some results of these monitoring
activities are discussed in the next section.
Technologists use GPS technology to maintain an inventory of
walkway features
Results
An estimated 38,000 local residents use the Grand Concourse on
an average summer day. In a 2002 telephone survey of area
residents, nearly 85% of respondents said they use it at least
once a week during the summer months.
Respondents also overwhelmingly recognized the value of the
walkways. In the 2002 survey, a majority of area residents gave
the walkway’s benefits at least three points out of five in
the areas of public health (98% of respondents), environment
(92%), property values (81%) and local businesses (70%). As well,
97% of respondents rated the Concourse positively for its scenery
and attractiveness, and 90% gave it high marks for cleanliness
and maintenance.
Research estimates indicate that the Grand Concourse is
stimulating sustained consumer spending of more than $20 million
per year. Even though the average user does not spend a great
deal during each outing, the sheer volume of users results in a
considerable economic impact. Walkway users (including local
residents and tourists) are estimated to spend over $7.8 million
annually on incidental expenditures like refreshments, film and
sunscreen. User purchases of "fixed" items like walkway-related
footwear, clothing, health foods, vitamins and walker's handbooks
are estimated to add another $12.5 million annually.
In 2003, the Grand Concourse Authority won a National Honour
Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects for the
overall planning, design and construction of the Grand Concourse.
The Johnson Family Foundation was also given a Regional Award of
Merit for its Walker’s Handbook.
Surveys of
Grand Concourse users are conducted regularly
Participants
The Grand Concourse Authority is a non-profit organization.
Its Directors and members include community-based and government
organizations including the Johnson Family Foundation, the
federal and provincial governments, area municipalities, Memorial
University, St. John’s Port Authority and other local
foundations and commissions.
Resources
The Grand Concourse Authority estimates that the cost of
developing its granular walks has been in the order of $33 to $60
per square metre, and that the annual cost of maintaining them is
in the order of $2,000 to $2,500 per linear kilometre. Details on
the level of maintenance can be found in their walkway
maintenance manual.
Ongoing financial support for the Grand Concourse Authority is
provided by:
- Johnson Family Foundation
- Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
- Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
- City of St. John’s
- City of Mount Pearl
- Town of Paradise
Timeline
- 1989
Signal Hill Lookout project
- 1993-1994
Demonstration projects
- 1995
Passing of an Act to Incorporate the Grand Concourse
Authority
- 1997
First historic interpretation panel erected
- 2001
Creation of GIS inventory of walkway features
Lessons learned
Key lessons learned include:
- An insistence on high standards and professional design
pays off in an improved user experience.
- Demonstration projects can be effective in showing project
potential and attracting partners.
- Public participation is a vital part of the planning
process.
- Partnerships with community, government and business groups
are key to successful processes and outcomes.
- Integration with public transit helps many users get to and
from the walkway.
- Connecting with major generators for youth and seniors
helps attract users.
- New technologies (e.g. GPS-based inventory for maintenance
management) can be effective and efficient.
- Constant monitoring of usage and impacts helps to identify
benefits for the community, environment and economy.
Next steps
The Grand Concourse Authority currently focuses on maintaining
its walks, building new links to the walkway network at the
request of members, managing landscape development projects, and
greening the walks to reduce mowing, enhance beauty and
biodiversity, and combat climate change.
Another ongoing task of primary concern is to market the Grand
Concourse and promote its use as a means of improving public
health and enhancing economic development and quality of life in
the St. John’s region.
Images are courtesy of the Grand Concourse
Authority
