Sarasota County Okays Funding for Landmark Drainage Project

A landmark drainage project for downtown Englewood passed a major milestone this week as the Sarasota County Commission unanimously agreed to let the Community Redevelopment Agency borrow about $4.5 million for the work. ...

The low-impact drainage design, or LID, is a way to treat stormwater locally, on site, instead of transferring it to a central location, according to Elaine Miller, president of Suncoast Architect and a consultant on the project. This will be accomplished through the construction of "bio-swales" that will filter and move the water out of heavily trafficked areas on and around Dearborn Street.

The treatment area will extend along Dearborn--at a width of a block north and south--from State Road 776 west to Lemon Bay, about 1-1/2 miles. Each block will have its own bio-swale which, when filled with stormwater, will transfer water along a chain of other bio-swales, connected by pipes, ultimately emptying into Lemon Bay.