Philadelphia unveils first porous street

Before you go asking, what’s so great about a porous street, consider this: the permeable material has the potential to reduce the impact of ice. Residents of South Philadelphia will be the first to experience this type of street.

When future repaving projects take place, the city will use these porous streets like the one revealed today on the 800-block of Percy Street. The Green Street initiative is one component of the Water Department’s “Green City, Clean Waters” program to improve sewer infrastructure.

Porous asphalt is as strong as regular asphalt, but has small spaces for stormwater runoff and a layer of stone beneath it to absorb water to prevent polluted water from running into storm drains.