At the intersection of East Walnut and North Plum streets near downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, beds of flowers, shrubs and grasses are interspersed with sections of porous pavement on three corners of the busy junction.
The beds and pavement sections, each extending up to 100 feet, were installed as a pilot project more than a decade ago as part of a stormwater utility, through which the city charges landowners according to the amount of impervious surface on their property and uses the revenue to pay for the construction of green infrastructure like rain gardens and porous pavement.
The installations absorb the rainfall, controlling flooding and reducing the amount of stormwater runoff that flushes into the city’s drains and then into the nearby Conestoga River, eventually flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
The improvements at that one intersection annually prevent 1.5 million gallons of stormwater from entering the city’s sewer system, officials say. The project cost $358,000 to install.
Read the rest of this article here.
