The Iron Triangle neighborhood is set to receive over 270 street trees and over 6,450 square feet of “low impact development enhancements” such as bioswales and rain gardens, thanks to a $500,000 state grant.
The city was awarded the California Coastal Conservancy grant in February 2017 to implement a significant urban greening project in the Iron Triangle.
At its meeting tonight, City Council is set to vote on a resolution to move the grant-awarded project forward.
The installation of street trees aims to “reduce the urban heat island effect by enhancing the tree canopy cover to about 40-percent, increasing carbon sequestration and improving air quality,” according to city staff. The low impact development enhancements, some of which will be accomplished on the Richmond Greenway, including at the new developing Unity Park, aims to reduce impacts of localized flooding events and to filter out toxic materials.
The city will partner with three nonprofits on the project – The Trust for Public Land, the Watershed Project, and Groundwork Richmond.
“The project will make the city’s Iron Triangle neighborhood more walkable, increase the public’s use of the developing Richmond Greenway, and make the city’s open spaces more available to historically disenfranchised community,” city staff says.
