In November 2010, Clark County finished its first “Green Street” project by planting thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses along a 20-block section of Northeast 99th Street, immediately east of Northeast 117th Avenue/SR 503.

• Post-construction flier, July 2012 (PDF)

Rain garden on Northeast 99th Street

The Northeast 99th Street project relies on rain gardens to collect and clean polluted storm runoff before it slowly soaks into the ground. Using plants is a natural way to treat stormwater, which the Washington Department of Ecology has identified as the state’s No. 1 threat to urban water quality.

Public Works also used rain gardens at Luke Jensen Sports Park, 4000 Northeast 78th Street, and built a series of rain gardens to improve water quality in the Mount Vista area north of Washington State University Vancouver.

• Pre-construction flier, September 2011 (PDF)

Pervious paving is another environmentally friendly construction technique that eliminates the need for stormwater ponds or other facilities that collect and treat runoff. Pervious pavement was used on sidewalks as part of the Northeast 99th Street project,

Public Works also used pervious paving along most of the Northeast 159th Street walkway between Hockinson Middle School and Hockinson High School. In addition, pervious pavement was used for most of the Salmon Creek Park & Ride lot that was built as part of the Salmon Creek Interchange Project.

Public Works is committed to using environmentally friendly construction where it is technically feasible and financially prudent.