Plum Street Parking lot, under construction

Plum Street Parking lot is the first of four City owned parking lots in the Southeast of Lancaster City to be renovated using green infrastructure technologies.  In addition to capturing stormwater the projects include repaving, planting trees, improved lighting, and organized parking placement.

The above image shows the permeable concrete being laid in the alley attached to the parking lot.

Lancaster Newspapers recently reported…When completed the lots will no longer allow rainwater to run off their surface into the city’s combined storm and sanitary sewers. Instead, rain that falls there will soak through porous asphalt and concrete and be channeled to “rain gardens” where it will feed trees and plants.

The lots have been designed to have a greater impact as basins to accept stormwater runoff from surrounding streets.

Charlotte Katzenmoyer, city public works director, said parking lots comprise 32 percent of the impervious surface covering Lancaster city.

“If you look at that, 32 percent, that’s a lot of stormwater that could be treated on site,” Katzenmoyer said.

The city is attempting to lead by example, she said. The four lots will serve as demonstration projects to show how “green infrastructure improvements” can be done. She hopes to convince private parking lot owners to follow the example.

For more information on this and other parking lots in the Southeast of Lancaster City click here to read more of the recent article in the Lancaster Newspapers.