MILWAUKEE — Right under the overpass located at I-43 at Becher Street, you'll notice trees starting to grow, seeds being planted, and bioswales now replacing pavement. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Director of Integrated Watershed Management, Bre Plier, said this is all green infrastructure — using vegetative space and native planting to reduce water runoff into the storm sewer system. "We try to maximize where we can, holding that water on the land surface where it falls, ensuring that that water slowly infiltrates or slowly enters the sewer system, especially during times of rain.
Actually, on this project, if we were to get more than one inch of rain, we could hold 100,000 gallons on this site alone," said Plier. If you look at the overpass pavement, you'll notice downspouts. The water is collected and then flows directly to parts of the green space below.
This not only helps nourish the trees and native plants but also prevents flooding and overloading the sewer system. "This used to be a blank, open canvas. So, we added in some rock-lined bioswales, put in over 100 trees here, and disconnected 18 downspouts underneath the bridge so that all the water coming off the road has the ability to feed into the green infrastructure that we put in," said Plier.
The green infrastructure project is also protecting our waterways. Highway stormwater runoff is extremely dirty and carries many pollutants from oil to vehicle fluids to salt. During heavy rain events or .