September’s meeting of the Juniata Park Civic Association brought big news about the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) plan for Ferko Playground and Cayuga street.
PWD is implementing a number of improvements in Juniata Park that will help to solve stormwater issues that are currently posing problems for Tacony Creek and the City of Philadelphia as a whole.
Most of Philadelphia’s sewer and storm drain systems are combined. When it rains, the pipes can’t handle all of the runoff and sewage, so sewage overflows into the creek. Green stormwater infrastructure uses trees, gardens and gravel to help reduce the amount of rain water going into storm drains and keep sewage from spilling into the creek.
PWD’s Maggie Wood explained why these improvements are necessary, what to expect during construction, and what we should expect once the work is completed. The projects planned for Ferko Playground and Cayuga street include:
– Fixing the existing flooding issues within the Ferko playground
– Constructing a new rain garden of native plants between the Ferko Playground sprinkler park & Cayuga Street. This garden will be capture and absorb rain water.
– Constructing 3 stormwater bump-outs along Cayuga Street. These small gardens next to the curb will intercept stormwater before it goes down the drain.
– Installing underground stormwater storage beneath the baseball field next to the playground. This will be a large patch of buried gravel that will hold rain water (16 SEPTA buses worth!) until it slowly soaks back into the ground.
While working in the neighborhood, PWD will also replace the water mains on Cayuga Street between I Street and Dungan; on Claridge, L and Glendale streets between Bristol and Cayuga; on Lawndale, from Hunting Park to Lycoming.
All together, these improvements will beautify the neighborhood while improving the health and quality of Tacony Creek and the park. Construction is expected to begin in fall/winter of 2015/2016.
Questions? Contact Robin@ttfwatershed.org or 215-744-1853.
