The 21st Street Improvement Project is the first “Green and Complete Street” on the Central Coast of California. It was honored with the US Green Building Council (USGB-C4) 2014 Green Innovation Award to the City of Paso Robles. The project responds to environmental challenges, like flooding, pollution, shrinking aquifers, and rising temperatures by copying nature. It entails a six-block corridor to included key sustainable infrastructure features such as a 26,000 square foot reduction of impervious pavement, bioretention areas with native plantings, and a center median channel that accommodates high velocity storm flows from the Mountain Spring Creek watershed in order to allow for increased groundwater recharge.
Earth Systems prepared the geotechnical engineering report on the project and the infiltration testing prior to construction. Earth Systems also performed the grading observation and testing, as well as the concrete and asphalt concrete testing.