Environmental Services
Green Streets
What is a Green Street?
| Green Street Fact Sheet |
| Green Street FAQs |
| Green Street Plant Choices |
Why Are Green Streets a Good Choice for Arlington?
Green Streets address both the volume of stormwater and the pollutants that stormwater carries. They are one of the best tools Arlington has at its disposal to address our environmental and regulatory stormwater needs.
Volume: Significant quantities of stormwater enter Arlington’s stream during storms, causing erosion that exposes our infrastructure and undermines trees along our streams.
Pollutants: Stormwater washes pollutants like nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), sediment, bacteria, and litter into our streams. This causes poor water quality in our streams.
Regulations: Arlington’s Municipial Separate Storm Sewer Permit (MS4 Permit) and the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) require Arlington to address the volume and pollutant loads in our stormwater.
Arlington County is committed to green building and sustainable stormwater management. Green Streets are an innovative, effective tool to improve the health of our streams. Green Streets also help the County meet regulatory requirements for pollutant reduction for local streams and the Chesapeake Bay.
How Does Arlington Identify Potential Green Street Projects?
Arlington County is working with the Center for Watershed Protection to study all of the watersheds in the County and identify appropriate spaces on County land where green street projects can be added. This effort is part of the County's Stormwater Master Plan update. Information on the study's progress in each of the watersheds is available on the watershed retrofit page.
How Does a Green Street Work?
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| This diagram shows a cross section of a typical Green Street rain garden in the street median. The rain garden has a small ponding area for runoff, underlain by several feet of soil and gravel. There is an underdrain at the bottom to allow water to flow to the storm sewer system, after it is filtered. |
The bowl-shaped, vegetated areas in a Green Street are rain gardens. They provide a temporary place for water to collect, be filtered by the soil and plants, and soak into the ground or be released into the stormwater system. An underground pipe, or underdrain, is incorporated into their design, connecting the rain garden with the stormwater system. The pipe ensures that the rain garden will drain in less than 48 hours. Learn more about the rain garden plants used in Arlington's Green Streets here.
Completed Green Streets Projects
- Patrick Henry Drive at 9th Rd N. - median rain gardens (Neighborhood Conservation Project). Learn more about this project
- North Albemarle Street and 23rd Street North - median rain garden. Pictures of the completed project
- Marymount University Rain Garden. Private project
Construction Pending (90-100% Design)
- Williamsburg Blvd between Old Dominion and 35th St N. - median rain gardens. Learn more about this project
- S. Hayes Street between 15th Street S. and Army Navy Drive - median rain gardens and stormwater planters. Learn more about this project
- 8th St S. at Monroe St - curbside rain gardens (Neighborhood Conservation Project).
In design
- Kensington Blvd at 33rd St. N. and Kensington Blvd at 32nd St. N. - curbside rain gardens (storm sewer capacity improvements). Learn more about this project
- John Marshall Dr between Yorktown and Williamsburg Blvd - median rain gardens (storm sewer capacity improvements). Learn more about this project
- Williamsburg Blvd between Harrison and Edison Streets N. - median rain garden (coordinating with Neighborhood Conservation Project).
- Patrick Henry Dr at 18th St. N. - curbside rain gardens (coordinating with Neighborhood Conservation Project).
- Patrick Henry Dr between 20th and 21st Streets N. - curbside rain gardens (coordinating with Neighborhood Conservation Project).
- 16th St. S. between S. Oakland and S. Nelson - curbside rain gardens (coordinating with traffic calming project). Learn more about this project
Approved
- Sycamore between 26th and 27th St. N. - median rain gardens (coordinating with Neighborhood Conservation Project).