The Midtown Alliance is testing a creative solution to address chronic flooding issues on one of the intown neighborhood's main thoroughfares -- Juniper Street.
Two bioswales - landscaping structures that naturally filter pollutants from stormwater – are being piloted at the intersection of Juniper Street and 5th Street. A typical bioswale has a sloped area that leads down to a basin filled with soil and plants that thrive in wet or dry conditions. The plants act as a natural filter for stormwater that washes off impervious surfaces like concrete, asphalt and buildings into the roadway and sidewalk, and eventually into the Chattahoochee River.
Kevin Green, Midtown Alliance President and CEO, said on the organization's website that the project is a "living experiment."
“Through innovative infrastructure like the bioswale, we are doing our part to help the City of Atlanta provide clean water as we grow," Green said.
The bioswale is one part of a larger, $5.6 million plan to enhance Juniper Street between 14th Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue. Other improvements will include a buffered southbound bicycle lane, widened sidewalks, roadway paving, handicap upgrades, LED lighting, recycling bins, new street trees and additional landscaping.
For more information click here: http://www.midtownatl.com/about/midtown-alliance/newsroom/midtown-monthly/june-2015/bioswale-pilot-project.
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