City of Richmond projects can be viewed online

Richmondites can go online to find out how the city’s $155.7 million capital budget is being spent this year.

The City of Richmond normally hosts an annual open house at city hall to give out information about capital projects, but that has moved online this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virtual open house gives synopses of the various projects on interactive maps or in lists by project name.

There are summaries of the projects with photos and sometimes video.

Projects are categorized into five sections: transportation, parks, engineering and public works, buildings and public art.

For example, the parks section lists 11 capital projects underway or planned in the city including the Minoru Lakes renewal, the Aberdeen Neighbourhood Park, community garden projects and a bike skills park.

The transportation section includes information on multi-use pathways and transit stop improvements. There is also information in the buildings section on improvements to the Richmond Ice Centre and Gateway Theatre.

Questions can be directed to the various project leads via the website until Sept. 30.

The city’s $155.7 million capital budget, approved late last year, is broken into several large areas.

Spending on infrastructure is budgeted at $92.9 million – this includes improvements to dikes, roads, drainage, water, sanitary lines and pump stations.

Building improvements and renovations comprise $17.6 million, spending on parks is budgeted at $12.2 million, land acquisition at $10 million, and equipment purchase, from fire trucks to software, is budgeted at $6.4 million.

The online open house is available here