The City of Sacramento’s first and one of the nation’s longest “Green Streets” was completed last fall. The project brought new sidewalks for residents and businesses in an area that never had sidewalks; ornamental streetlights; and planter strips featuring 100 trees, 200-plus shrubs and 4000 perennial grasses planted over a new storm drainage system, instead of a traditional curb and gutter. It stretches along five blocks of Dixieanne Avenue in a transitioning industrial/residential North Sacramento neighborhood near a light rail station.
Instead of a typical mow strip, several planter strips double as detention basins for storm water runoff to collect and percolate through the soil before it flows into nearby streams and rivers.
Fences were repaired or added to complement the new sidewalks. The project also includes six streetscape elements of leaves indigenous to Sacramento. The metal and steel elements were designed by local craftsman Larry Meeks and range from four to six feet tall.
In addition to the greenery, the storm drainage system is a sustainable feature because the collected storm water run-off eliminates the need for irrigation. The storm water also is treated as it percolates through the soil, as opposed to flowing straight into the neighborhood’s drainage ditches or storm water sewers.
The $2 million project was funded through Community Reinvestment Act Bonds designated for infrastructure improvements and through redevelopment funds from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. The City’s Department of Transportation managed the engineering design and construction.
Image by MIG Planning & Design
A key element of the design is a new storm drainage system beneath a strip of trees, shrubs and grass, allowing for most stormwater to be captured, reducing peak flows and cleansing runoff.
Traffic-calming elements and a roundabout were incorporated into the street makeover.
The project serves as a template for additional streetscape projects throughout the city. It is also an important element of the Swanston Station Transit Village Specific Plan, a land use document guiding public and private improvements in the neighborhood surrounding the light rail station.