The Southwest Capitol Highway Improvement Project is underway and approximately half of its $27.5 million budget is dedicated to storm water management facilities.
According to The Portland Tribune, the project is concentrated along a mile-long stretch of the road from Southwest Taylor Ferrys Road on the south to beginning of the bridge that leads into the village on the north.
According to The Portland Tribune, a large concrete storm water collection and filtration basin is being constructed in a ravine along the south side of Southwest Multnomah Boulevard. This is the largest of four basins that are part of the project, and another rain garden is being built across the road next to the U.S. Post Office parking lot. The remaining two rain gardens will be located to the south in residential neighborhoods on each side of the highway.
Stacks of large green pipes that line the length of Capitol Highway will be rebuilt and installed under the rebuilt roadway and new sidewalks to channel storm water off their surfaces through storm grates into the facilities, reported The Portland Tribune.
The Bureau of Environmental Service is contributing $12 million to the project, the Bureau of Transportation is contributing $13.4 million, and The Water Bureau is chipping in $2 million. The Bureau of Environmental Services operates Portland's wastewater and storm water sewer systems, overseeing the city's other storm water management programs.
"Instead of flooding streets and properties, storm water will now be channeled to four landmark rain gardens," said Environmental Services Director Mike Jordan "Those gardens use soil and plants to filter storm water the natural way, slowly releasing cleaner water to neighborhood creeks that flow into the Willamette and Tualatin rivers. By working with nature, we provide multiple benefits to the neighborhoods and the rivers we love."
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