Lakeshore lot gets eco-friendly upgrade

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Lot 34, located just east of the lakeshore residence halls, is getting an environmentally friendly makeover to fight erosion, while a project on the adjacent Lakeshore Nature Preserve targets invasive species.

This week, workers began removing the parking lot’s old and deteriorating asphalt surface, concrete curbing and lighting. Three-fourths of the lot will be repaved with conventional asphalt. The remaining one-fourth will be covered with porous asphalt, which will allow storm water to infiltrate the new surface.

"We will be studying the runoff from the regular paving versus the porous paving to see how well each system works and how much water is actually being infiltrated," says Gary Brown, director of campus planning and landscape architecture.

New curbs and gutters will channel any remaining storm water into a bioretention basin that is being created on the north side of the lot. Brown says it will operate much like a large rain garden. "It will contain deep-rooted native plants that can help soak up the rain water and provide a way for it to infiltrate into the ground, reducing runoff and erosion problems," says Brown.

Several large stands of invasive species were removed to make way for the rain garden area, along with a few non-native trees. Brown says several large native oaks are being saved and protected throughout the construction period.

Emily Sievers, a graduate student project supervisor for the Lakeshore Nature Preserve and a mentor for the Summer Science Institute, helped two high school students collect some baseline vegetation and soils data in the woods adjacent to Lot 34.

Sievers notes that prior to restoration efforts, the upper canopy mainly consisted of red and white oak, basswood and cottonwood, while the understory was heavily invaded by buckthorn, honeysuckle and box elder.

"The dense shrub cover served as a visual barrier between Lot 34 and the Lakeshore Path, but it was aesthetically unattractive and prevented establishment of native groundcovers on the steep slope leading to the lake," Sievers says. "This exacerbated erosion problems, especially in areas directly below the three cement flumes used to shuttle storm water off of the parking lot. Runoff from the lot had cut a gorge along the sidewalk."

A student restoration team has cleared out a large portion of the understory and will soon begin replanting the hillside with native species to stabilize the soil.

"Passers-by may be surprised by how open the new woodland appears, but the longer-term goal of the restoration is to replace the woody invasive species that once dominated the area with a more diverse, native community of woodland understory plants," says Sievers.

Funding for the project was provided in part by a $150,000 storm water management construction grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The total project cost is $350,000, with the remainder of funds coming from the Transportation Services department.

Project Manager Steve Harman of Facilities Planning and Management says the goal is to finish the lot work by Friday, Aug. 24, but the bioretention project may run through September.