Sarah Korones reports on an interesting story in SmartPlanet: Chicago debuts smog-eating street (21-OCT-2012).

Image at ChicagoRealEstate.com

From the article: “In an effort to clean up its city streets, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) has set out to create the “greenest street in America” and short of closing off the road all together and turning it into a park, they seem to have done just that.

“Officials from the department have completely transformed a two-mile stretch of Cermak Road and Blue Island Avenue in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood, an industrial section of the city that is frequented by trucks passing through.

“To start, the street’s pavement has been replaced with a new variety that actually cleans the surface of the road while removing pollution from the surrounding air.  Photocatalytic cement removes nitrogen oxide gases from the air through a catalytic reaction driven by UV light, according to CDOT. In addition, a slew of recycled materials were blended into both the street and sidewalk’s pavement.”

Read the full article here.

Related articles:

• Chicago has the greenest street in America
• Mayor Daley’s Green City Program
• Green Street Project
• Chicago Lays Pollution-Fighting Pavement (techonomy.com)
• Chicago Unveils the “Greenest Street in America” with Permeable, Smog-Eating Pavement (inhabitat.com)
• The Greenest Street in America Is Paved With Smog-Eating Cement (gizmodo.co.uk)
• Taking the Green Road (idiotyouth.wordpress.com)
• Smog-Eating Pavement Featured in ‘Greenest’ Street (cleantechnica.com)
• Greenest Street In America Eats Smog (news.discovery.com)
• The Greenest Street in America Is Paved With Smog-Eating Cement [Green] (gizmodo.com)
• Greenest Street in America Opens (slog.thestranger.com)
• The greenest mile: Chicago pushes the limits on sustainable streets (grist.org)
• The Road That Eats Smog (livinggreenandsavingenergy.com)