The Sewerage and Water Board publicly announced its plan to create a 600-foot-long bioswale in Coliseum Square Park at a neighborhood meeting last week, according to our friends at the Uptown Messenger.
The bioswale is a drainage course or trench planted with local vegetation that filters and stores rainwater. The goal is to assist with storm water management by absorbing rainwater and preventing it from hitting the city’s drainage system. It’s also designed to reduce the city’s subsidence rate and slow down traffic along the street. This site was picked, in part, because the particular area for installation gets flooded every time there is heavy rainfall.
The system was designed and engineered by Gaea Consultants, LLC. The bioswale will add 1,500 feet of green space to the area in the form of plantings. Current plans for the Bioswale to be 8 feet wide with the ability to filter almost 3,000 cubic feet of storm water.
The Coliseum Square Bioswale is part of a larger City plan to spend more on “green infrastructure.” Other city ideas include a green roof in on its Lee Circle headquarters and a rain garden in Algiers.