Mayor Gray to Mark Completion of District’s First ‘Green’ Alleys

WHAT/WHO:   Mayor Vincent C. Gray, District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Director Terry Bellamy and District Department of the Environment (DDOE) Director Christophe A. G. Tulou will mark the completion of the District’s first Green Alleys at his July 11 Biweekly Press Briefing. The Mayor will take questions on general topics following the alley presentation.

WHEN:          Wednesday, July 11, 2012
                     10 am – 11 am

WHERE:       Alley between 58th and 59th Streets and Dix and Clay Streets NE

BACKGROUND:      The Green Alleys Project is a joint collaboration between DDOT and DDOE with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The project is aimed at reducing the quantity and improving the quality of stormwater run-off within the District’s right-of-way. Three initial Green Alley sites located along the Watts Branch Watershed in Northeast Washington are included in DDOT’s pilot program. As part of the project, the existing concrete, gravel and dirt alleys were removed and replaced with a permeable concrete pavement – allowing water to pass through the surface and percolate through a gravel layer and into the soil below. Construction started in November 2011.

PHOTO OPP:    Following the program, crews will pour water on the new alley to demonstrate how water permeates into the pervious surface. Crews will also have on hand cross-section samples of the permeable concrete and asphalt treatments that were used to construct the alleys.