Energy Corridor Management District representatives Josh Bowie and Mark Klein demonstrate the rapid water filtration of the low impact design pavers used in the redesigned street project.[/caption]

In the 1970s, Dutch designers developed a way for pedestrians and cyclists to successfully share the road with vehicles. They began using a street design concept called a woonerf, or living street, which serves as both a parking area and a public space.

That concept has been brought to Fortsmith Street in Grisby Square, a business and restaurant area in the Energy Corridor Management District. The district held a grand opening celebration for the street on Sept. 24.

The roughly $300,000 redesign took several years of coordination with the city of Houston to convert the previously abandoned right of way into a functional street, district officials said.

“[We wanted] a place that would basically be a park that you can park your car in,” said Clark Martinson, Energy Corridor Management District general manager, at the opening.

The design addresses not just parking, but drainage and flooding that occurs in the area, Martinson said.

Urban design and landscape architecture firm Asakura Robinson designed the project to incorporate low impact design strategies. From the choice of plants to the materials used in the pavers, the street provides a filtering process before the water drains into the storm water drainage system.

The permeable paving system can be used in home driveways and patios as well as on streets, said Jamie Rodriguez, the Oldcastle Architectural Texas commercial hardscapes design manager who oversaw installation.

“This is a place-making project, not just a transportation project,” Martinson said. “It’s about quality of life for residents and visitors to the district.”

The district is working on a capital improvement plan that will measure the results of quality of life and low impact design projects, he said.

Barbie Lomonte, owner of Lomonte’s Italian Restaurant and Bar, has operated her restaurant in Grisby Square for nearly 30 years. She
said she welcomes improvements to the area.

“Parking’s still a problem, that’s just the way it is,” she said. “I was worried [business would slow during construction], but people still managed to get here. People will feel this is a whole other area where people can park and come to dine.”