A conceptual drawing of the new stormwater-filtering medians that will be put in along University Avenue (Courtesy of City of La Mesa Public Works)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe result was a $2.3 million award for the project along University Avenue between La Mesa Boulevard and Harbinson Avenue.<\/p>\n
Revitalizing the streets that lead into La Mesa has been an ongoing project for the city. El Cajon Boulevard and Fletcher Parkway have already gone through upgrades, as well as the streetscape along the La Mesa Village.<\/p>\n
\u201cUniversity is the next one on the list,\u201d Humora said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a target for action for us for quite some time to go ahead and revitalize the corridor, redo the landscaping, make it more pedestrian friendly, more walkable, more attractive, to try to spur development out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new medians will clean stormwater naturally by directing runoff from the street into a concave area that contains vegetation and three feet of a special biomass soil that filters pollutants before reaching a pipe below that connects to the stormwater system.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now we have asphalt medians out there, so rain hits it and it runs off and there\u2019s pollutants on there \u2014 it doesn\u2019t help with the stormwater quality at all right now,\u201d Humora said. \u201cSo when we\u2019re done, rain will go into the basin and get treated but the new medians are also going to grab stormwater off the street that\u2019s dirty and has pollutants and funnel that into the basin and get treated as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Humora said SWRCB awarded the grant money to the project because they appreciated the creative solutions and this project met the goals for improving water quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there were resources available, it was just a case of somebody coming up with a concept that made sense for them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to demonstrate to them that we are going to improve water quality, they want to see how many square feet of stormwater can get transformed. This concept is pretty new. There\u2019s small scales of this but, regionally, I\u2019m not aware of anything this big.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the medians, the sidewalks along University Avenue will also be planted with trees, making walking along the avenue much more pleasant during the hot summer months.<\/p>\n
Construction on the new median project is slated to begin in June and will take nine to 10 months, Humora said.<\/p>\n
At the April 12 La Mesa City Council meeting, when the project was approved, there was some discussion as to how the construction will affect traffic, especially during the school year.<\/p>\n
Humora said he hopes a portion of the project will be completed before school begins and added that although there are four nearby schools, including Helix Charter High School, none of the schools are on University Avenue, so traffic in front of the schools\u2019 drop-off areas should not be affected to a great degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a challenge when doing construction to minimize the impacts, but the schools definitely load the streets up,\u201d he said, adding that students who are able, should walk or ride bikes to school to help ease traffic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2014Jeff Clemetson is editor of the La Mesa Courier. Reach him at jeff@sdcnn.com.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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