Innovative Application of Green Infrastructure in Public Spaces in Northeast USA

A city in New York’s Capital District has implemented the presented project as part of a regionwide Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) to decrease Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) into the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The project includes separation of stormwater from the city’s combined sewers and construction of extensive green infrastructure. Innovative approaches were taken throughout the project life cycle, including as part of project conception, funding, and design. The project was mandated as part of a regulatory program targeting CSO reduction. Project funding is through a cost-sharing pool of several municipalities listed on the LTCP; the project costs would have been a significant burden without the costsharing agreement. Green infrastructure design included limiting maintenance concerns, protecting plants from winter roadway management activities, adaptation to topographical conditions, and hydraulic optimization of green infrastructure with drainage piping to decrease drainage pipe size and save on construction costs.