The Media Borough Stormwater Master Plan was adopted by Borough Council at their August 2017 meeting.  The Plan takes a big picture approach to addressing stormwater runoff in Media, identifying and prioritizing the most effective projects throughout the borough to address Media’s  flooding and related environmental  problems.

The plan focuses on “best management practices” (BMPs) for stormwater, laying out green infrastructure solutions that emphasize “infiltration” over “conveyance.”

“Infiltration” projects are engineered to create or to use existing green space to draw rainwater into the soil—nature’s own very effective water treatment system.  When rain water is absorbed by soil, pollutants and silt are filtered out by the time the water reaches Ridley Creek, the source of our drinking water.  “Conveyance” systems—inlets and pipes—are also necessary, but are frequently overwhelmed by the volume of runoff.  This causes flooding and oversaturated areas that are not only a safety hazard, but also damage property. When flooding occurs, storm runoff flows–pollutants unfiltered–directly into our drinking water sources.   The more infiltration of rainwater into soil, the better off we all are.

The Borough received two grants this year to build green infrastructure projects recommended by the Plan.  A $163,050 grant from the Growing Greener Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, will build infiltration tree trenches along the sides of West Jefferson Street between South Avenue and S. Olive Street, and along S. Olive Street between W. Franklin Street and W. Jefferson Street.   This project will also slow stormwater runoff along W. Jefferson Street by converting the bump-outs at the intersection of South Avenue into bioretention bump-outs—highly infiltrative curb extensions, planted with a rain garden, that capture stormwater street flow through an inlet.

The Borough also obtained an award of $400,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside funding program to build three green infrastructure solutions to address the severe flooding problems at Ridge Road and N. Olive Street.

Improvements include:

• Green Stormwater Parkette:  we will install a 7,500 square foot  Stormwater Infiltration System and a 1,000 square foot Bioretention Basin (Rain Garden) in a 0.33 acre undeveloped lot owned by the Borough adjacent to North Providence Road (SR 252).  These two systems will capture stormwater flowing down North Providence Road that currently enters the Borough at Ridge Road, causing flooding in the north part of the borough.  An existing network of piping will be diverted into the facility to attenuate flow and improve water quality.
• Green Stormwater Tree Boxes:  we will install bioretention tree pits along the west side of North Olive Street.  Proposed inlets will capture both street and sidewalk runoff coming down North Olive from Ridge Road.
• Rain Garden Bump Outs:   At the intersection of Ridge Road and N. Olive Street we will build vegetated bioretention curb extensions that protrudes into the street.  The bump outs will provide a double benefit:  they will both mitigate stormwater surging down N. Olive Street from Ridge Road and act as a traffic- calming feature on a stretch of road notorious as a cut-through.  Dual improvements to stormwater and traffic conditions will be a “win-win” for the neighborhood.

The Stormwater Master Plan was funded by a grant from the Growing Greener Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.