EDITORIAL: New use found for downtown parkways

There is work being done on the parkways of Park Avenue that will ultimately help to deter the erosion in Hitchcock Woods and may be a solution to rainwater runoff in downtown.

The City is working with students from Clemson on a project that will decrease rain runoff in the Park Avenue area - water that is currently finding its way to Sand River in Hitchcock Woods and creating damaging erosion.

The work on the parkways will allow rainwater on the street to be funneled into the parkways for slow dispersion rather than rapid runoff into the stormwater sewer system. Guiding water along Park Avenue into the parkways rather than down storm sewers will promote an environmentally friendly situation for the Woods.

Aiken has been known for decades for innovative and cost-effective solutions to problems. If the initial part of this project proves workable, the City may well find that utilizing the many parkways downtown as sponges for street rainwater runoff will be an unexpected benefit of one of Aiken's most significant assets. The parkways that were created with the establishment of Aiken give the city multiple quadrants of green space. That they will be able to be used to resolve a water runoff issue 175 years later is something else to celebrate in this special year for the city