San Francisco Greening its Streets
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has completed one of its flagship green street projects as part of its 2050 stormwater management goal.
In most communities, streets make up a significant percentage of publicly owned land. Green streets use a variety of green infrastructure solutions, including vegetated curb extensions, sidewalk planters, landscaped medians, vegetated swales, permeable pavement, and street trees, to reduce stormwater, improve water quality, enhance pedestrian safety, and beautify neighbourhoods.
Multiple benefits of green streets
Green streets can provide multiple co-benefits in addition to managing stormwater runoff and improving water quality, including:
- Reducing the urban heat island effect
- Increasing biodiversity
- Generating green jobs
- Improving air quality
At the same time, the visible nature of green infrastructure offers enhanced public education opportunities to teach the community about mitigating the adverse environmental impacts of our built environment.
San Francisco greening its streets
SFPUC is implementing a range of innovative green infrastructure programmes, policies, and projects to manage 1 billion gallons of stormwater annually by 2050, including the greening of streets. Over the past several years, SFPUC has been constructing a series of flagship green infrastructure projects across the city’s watersheds to test green technologies and evaluate their long-term effectiveness, with one such project, Sunset Boulevard Greenway, having just been completed.
Sunset Boulevard Greenway
The two-mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard has become a green street that includes 30 new rain gardens to manage 5.3 million gallons of stormwater annually. Collectively, the rain gardens cover nearly 30,000 square feet along the thoroughfare, with the gardens comprised of native and drought-tolerant plants. The plant species were chosen for their resilience during both wet and dry weather conditions. The green street also features informational signs and an education learning hub that will inspire students and younger residents to champion sustainable water practices.
The take-out
Green infrastructure not only manages excess water but inspires the next generation of environmental leaders.
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