East Palo Alto, California, the United States

The Addison Avenue Safe Route to School and Green Street Improvements Project will create several bioretention areas and improve pedestrian safety, build sidewalks, expand bike access and create curb ramps to meet ADA standards. This Green Street provides a host of multiple benefits for the City, the general public, and native flora and fauna.  In addition to these benefits, the bioretention gardens are also removing contaminants such as PCBs and mercury from stormwater runoff.  We estimate that, on average, between 47% and 76% of PCBs in runoff will be captured and 32% to 54% of mercury will be captured per year. The project will also include educational signage that describes the multiple benefits (stormwater and pedestrian safety) along the corridor. The approximately 17,000 square feet of bioretention area to be installed in this project will enhance the quality of the urban matrix, create small stepping stone habitats, and retain stormwater during high rainfall events. Trees planted in this project will provide an additional 250 square feet of canopy cover at maturity. 100% of the plants planned for the bioretention areas are native to California.

Learn more about this project here.

Key Elements: Matrix Quality, Native Species