As temperatures soar, experts look to an Elk Grove parking lot for clues to keep cooler
Elk Grove and other cities are studying a sunblocking strip of Old Town Elk Grove pavement for valuable clues to keep asphalt-covered urban neighborhoods cooler.
The laboratory is a small parking lot at Grove Street near the city’s just-completed Old Town Plaza, the nearly 4½-acre entertainment and gathering space in the historic district. The lot was treated with a new layer of cool pavement treatment under the eyes of the Cool Roadways Partnership to Reduce Urban Heat pilot program. The road coating is lighter in color than traditional blacktop, reflecting sunlight instead of absorbing it.
Cool Roadways, a consortium of 20 jurisdictions including Elk Grove, nonprofit organizations and industry, will look at how effective the treatment is in reducing temperatures and review how the surface holds up under the heat.
What they learn from the Grove Street lot could help city planners find ways to reduce the effects of urban heat islands — defined as what occurs when a city experiences much warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas.
Densely-built urban areas, with their asphalt, buildings and concrete, absorb more sunlight and convert that into heat. Scientists say the lighter coatings and treatments on roads and buildings could help to dramatically lower urban air temperatures.
Berkeley, Davis and Sacramento are also part of the partnership.
Cool Roadways organizers list rising urban temperatures and extreme heat as among the chief challenges of the 21st century. The deadly heat waves that punished the Pacific Northwest and triggered record-breaking heat in Sacramento and across the West in recent days have become only the most recent examples.
Learn more about the pavement experiment at the interpretive sign posted near Railroad and Grove streets in Old Town Elk Grove.
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 11:19 AM.
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