The Village of North Riverside will convert all of its parking lots at the Village Commons campus from asphalt to permeable pavers this summer after the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago selected the village’s project for its 2023 Green Infrastructure Partnership Program. In partnership with the MWRD, the MWRD is contributing roughly $1.6 million of the $2.16 million required to perform the work, with the village responsible for $545,000 of the cost.
The areas to be repaved at the Village Commons campus include both the small front lot and large rear parking lot, the large parking lot in front of the police department as well as a smaller police-only parking lot closer to the building, a strip of 15 asphalt parking spaces for fire department use and a dozen spaces near the public works building. In all, the village and MWRD are partnering to repave about 71,000 square feet of impervious parking lot, about 1.6 acres, with permeable pavers, roughly 17 percent of the main campus area.
Beginning in June, the asphalt parking lots will be excavated to a depth of about 20 inches and backfilled with three distinct stone layers, along with an under-drain system set higher up in the stone base. Construction is planned in phases, as to allow parking access to the Commons at all times.
With completion projected in late August, the areas paved with the permeable surface will be able to divert a combined 200,000 gallons of water from the village’s sewer system by detaining it in a roughly 17-inch rock base topped by bricks. This first major green infrastructure project for North Riverside will help to reduce the flow of storm water that enters the village system. This will in turn, reduce the basement backups and street flooding for our residents and overflow into the DesPlaines River.