The Bristol Street widening project has won praise for its environmental aspects

City of Santa Ana

CommunityAward-Winning Bristol Street Improvement Project Earns High Praise for Excellence in Sustainability

The City’s Bristol Street Improvement Project, Phase 2: from 3rd Street to Civic Center Drive, has been selected for the American Society of Civil Engineers Roadways & Highways Project of the Year.

Many aspects of the project design and construction demonstrate a level of sustainability not previously seen on road construction projects.

The project included the installation of LED/Dark Skies Certified street lights and traffic signals; the use of recycled material for paving that included recycled car tires and old pavement in the asphalt mix; installation of 15-foot parkways that are a 100% drought-tolerant landscaping and low water use irrigation; the addition of a 7-foot bicycle lane that includes a striped buffer for bicyclist comfort and 10-foot wide pedestrian walkways; and routing all runoff to bioswales that filter storm water before it reaches the storm sewer and the ocean in order to improve the runoff water quality.

The project has also earned a GreenRoads Certification, which is a voluntary third-party rating system that recognizes and rewards roadway projects that exceed public expectations for environmental, economic and social performance. Earning a GreenRoads certification is highly prestigious and attracts international interest. For example, the Dubai Department of Transportation visited the project and used it as a case study for its own similar projects.