From Rainstorms to Runoff Solutions: Walking Grand Avenue’s New Project

Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group got lucky again with the weather last Wednesday. It had rained heavily on Monday and Tuesday, but it had cleared by Wednesday morning.

In July we had seen some of the sidewalk work that was being done on Grand Avenue, but construction of the City’s first bioswale project had not started. It is at the intersection of Fairview and Grand Avenues and is now complete. The recent rain provided an additional reason to go see it and understand how it works. There was a strong turnout of 46 walkers and four K-9 best friends at the Exedra to go see this newest City construction project.

There had been significant road work on Grand Avenue this year. The intersections of Grand/Linda and Grand/Greenbank were identified as two of the top ten priority locations for pedestrian safety enhancements in the City's 2021 Safer Streets Plan. These intersections were prioritized based on proximity to a school, being on an arterial street, and being part of a bike/bus route.

In 2022 the City applied for an Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) grant to fund pedestrian safety improvements on Grand Avenue and received a $500,000 grant to support design and construction of this project and a construction contract was awarded earlier this year.

Bulb-outs and the bioswale had been built. According to Piedmont Public Works Director Daniel Gonzales this bioswale is the first, true, green infrastructure project in Piedmont, and a great example of how these types of projects can simultaneously enhance safety while improving the aesthetics of the neighborhood.

We wanted to see it all and headed off down Magnolia Avenue. We were immediately delighted by the “nanci’s musiktime” activity for very young people and their parents on the grass by the Exedra. From the Magnolia sidewalk, we then checked out the new pool. It looks like young and old people will soon be having fun there too.

We continued down to Jerome Avenue and across it to the very seldom visited Hill Lane. This is really just a dead end road that provides access to garages of Nova and Arbor Drive homes. We went to the lane’s end and found a patch of tomato vines with mostly green cherry tomatoes hanging over a backyard fence. This led to a discussion with Ron Day, our visiting English friend, about the correct pronunciation of “tomato.”

It was then on to Oakland to Grand Avenues. Some history from Piedmont Historical Society president Gail Lombardi’s research about this part of Piedmont was shared. In 1929 the Piedmont City Council adopted an ordinance allowing businesses from the city line just beyond Wildwood Avenue to Linda Avenue on the west side of Grand Avenue, and to Fairview Avenue on the east side. Seven months later voters rejected another zoning ordinance to extend the business district to Oakland Avenue. Today, the Grand Avenue business district remains the same as it was in 1929.

As we made our way down Grand, we came upon EBMUD workers and were told that “emergency water work” was being done. A section of the sidewalk ahead was closed, and we cross Grand at Linda Avenue and then crossed Grand again at Sunnyside to get to the east side of the street and the bioswale at Fairview. However, along the way, there was noticeable sediment on the sidewalk that seemed to have come from overflowing water.

We arrived at the bioswale’s two sections with their newly planted landscaping, and more information about bioswales was shared. They are landscaped, linear, vegetated channels that collect water from areas like roofs, driveways, and lawns. Soil and plants are used to absorb rainwater, reduce runoff, and prevent flooding by increasing the ground's capacity to absorb water. They also improve water quality by recharging groundwater and minimizing the pollution of streams and oceans from sediment, fertilizers, and pesticides. Their plants' deep roots and the porous soil mix can encourage rainwater to soak into the ground, rather than running off into storm drains.

Walker and Park Commissioner Jack Fischrup added that this bioswale is really designed to be a water retention area that will fill with rainwater and slowly channel it to the existing drainage sewer system. A nearby resident, who happened to be walking by, confirmed that the recent rains had overflowed this bioswale and its drainage pipe in about 30 minutes. However, that water was now gone and the curved sidewalk around the bioswale provided a great spot for a group photo.

With our photo and bioswale inspection complete we went up Wildwood Avenue to Palm Drive, Park View, Winsor and Wildwood Avenues, and past Wildwood School where happy children were getting ready at outside tables for lunch. We returned to the center of town with a climb of the upper trail in Piedmont Park. There was a little disappointment that the water flow in Bushy Dell Creek from the rains was not more robust. It seemed to be back to normal, but there was no disappointment with our walk. It was both informative and fun on a morning without any rain or a lot of water.