Greensburg Main Street Streetscape

The City of Greensburg, Kansas, is developing a downtown environment that provides a unique experience for residents and visitors, and helps the city reach its community goals. As one of the first major infrastructure projects in Greensburg since the EF-5 tornado destroyed the majority of the town in 2007, the Main Street Streetscape is a signature project and will help to sustain the momentum for rebuilding a model sustainable town.

By looking at the street design features as an integrated system, the design team has incorporated stormwater management techniques, innovative material use and energy efficiency measures. All components, from planting and irrigation, to seating, paving and materials will be sustainable. This is the greenest Main Street in the United States.

Many of the strategies integrated into the streetscape design will serve as models for additional city projects. Rainwater, for instance, will be celebrated as a precious resource. Runoff from building roofs, sidewalks and streets will be collected in underground cisterns, cleansed of sediment and heavy metals within integrated infiltration basins and reused during drought conditions. The design encourages recharge of the aquifer and promotes environmental stewardship through low maintenance solutions.