Low Impact Development for Roads - Military Road S. at S. 272nd Street

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"Green Building for Transportation Infrastructure"

Watch a video overview about the project

IE users: Double-click the image above to watch a video overview of the Military Road S. & S. 272nd St. Low Impact Development project.

More about the project

This is an intersection improvement project located at Military Road S. at S. 272nd St. which received a Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater grant. The grant of $424,375 enables King County to fund the following activities:

The construction of porous concrete sidewalks and a bioretention facility/rain garden.
The development and implementation of a monitoring program to monitor the performance of the sidewalks and bioretention facility for a period of 3 years after construction.
The development of public outreach and educational measures to share knowledge about the LID components of this project (e.g., interpretive signage at the project site, a Web site, project tours, public presentations, and writing articles for publication).

Non-LID components of this project include:

Construct an eastbound right turn lane and add an additional northbound left turn lane.
Construct sidewalks that will reduce the project’s overall impervious area.
Existing traffic signal and traffic cameras will be upgraded.

More information on the grant program can be found on DOE Web site.

What are some reasons for using LID on this project?

Reduces the amount of new impervious surface.
Helps maintain natural hydrology.
Helps protects Star Lake and nearby wildlife habitat from high storm flows.
Lowers the cost of stormwater infrastructure by eliminating the need for a stormwater vault or large R/D pond.
Improves the appearance and aesthetics of the roadway.

What makes this project green?

LID approaches such as the porous cement concrete sidewalks and the bioretention stormwater facility/rain garden make this a "green" project. Although LID approaches have been widely applied to residential streets, this project demonstrates the potential for utilizing LID approaches in the more alternative context of larger scale transportation infrastructure projects.

To fulfill grant requirements, the project will monitor the performance of the "green" aspects of the project, including the porous sidewalks and bioretention facility, for three years after construction.

Related project documents

Low Impact Development Stormwater Grant Agreement Between the State of Washington Department of Ecology and King County (1MB .pdf)

Check out the traffic camera at the project site

Traffic camera: Military Road S. at S. 272nd St. (northeast corner)

Also see: Video of the porous concrete sidewalk being installed

IE users: Double-click the image above to watch a video of the porous concrete sidewalk being built at Military Road S. & S. 272nd St.

View project photos

See the native plants used in the rain garden

Sept. 10, 2007 - Transportation Improvement Board visits the project site. Watch the slideshow.

Aug. 3, 2007 - Field trip for installation of porous concrete sidewalks. View the fact sheet (96KB .pdf) distributed to field trip participants and watch the slideshow.

Project facts

• Construct 1,100 square yards of porous concrete sidewalks.

• The rain garden is 285’ long and covers 0.12 acres.

• Construction cost is $1.1 million.

• Department of Ecology (DOE) grant in the amount of $424,000.

• Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant in the amount of $640,000.

Project sponsors

This project is sponsored by the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board, and King County.
Graphics: Washington State Department of Ecology, King County and Washington State Transportation Improvement Board logos

Graphics: Washington State Department of Ecology, King County and Washington State Transportation Improvement Board logos

Contact us

For information about this project, please contact:

Jim Sussex, Engineer II
King County Road Services Division
Engineering Services Section, Environmental Unit
206-296-8737

Updated: Feb. 28, 2008