Story posted Thursday, November 5, 2009
Celebrate Creek Stabilization At Ribbon Cutting
The Dept. of Public Works for the Village of Wheeling, Capital Projects & Design Division, is hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony this Friday, Nov. 6 at 10:30 a.m. for the completion of Phase I Buffalo Creek Streambank Stabilization Project.
This project directly involved 52 properties from which several hundred of residents reside.
This project was initiated to resolve streambank erosion and stability problems.
Buffalo Creek, a tributary to the Des Plaines River, drains approximately 26.82 square miles in south central Lake County and north central Cook County.
This phase of the project is part of nearly five miles of stabilization program proposed for Buffalo Creek within the Village of Wheeling in Cook County.
The Village of Wheeling undertook a stream stability study of Buffalo Creek within the Village of Wheeling in 2005. This comprehensive assessment of Buffalo Creek within the village's corporate limits was conducted from West Aptakisic Road on the village's western border to the creek's convergence with the Des Plaines River near Chicago Executive Airport.
The study evaluated approximately 25,000 ft. of stream channel and stream bank and identified specific erosion and stability problems along the entire stream. The assessment revealed that Buffalo Creek suffers from slight to severe bank erosion and down cutting as a result of increased storm water runoff frequency, volumes, and velocities in this primarily urbanized watershed.
The most severely impacted reaches are located in the northern third of the study area and were the target of this phase of the stabilization project. These targeted stream bank erosion and stability problems have been resolved and the stream bank has been beautified with native wetland and upland prairie plantings and seeds.
Approximately 2,600 linear feet of stream channel has been improved utilizing both structural and bio-technical techniques to stabilize and enhance the corridor, reduce loss of real estate, and improve water quality and aquatic habitat in Buffalo Creek.
This project was funded by federal, state and local funds. A grant was awarded to the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) on behalf of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to provide financial, technical, and administrative assistance to the Village of Wheeling.
The originally approved project was valued at $1,920,760; the approved federal assistance amount to the village was $1,114,040; and the required local cost share in expenses and in-kind services by the village was $806,720.
The final project value will exceed $2.5 million. Project costs that exceeded the approved project value were offset in part by a $120,000 grant sponsored by Rep. Sidney Mathias (R-53d) through a grant from the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the balance of the improvement costs beyond those grants and local share were paid for by the village of Wheeling's Capital Projects Funds.
According to village officials, these improvements will provide long-term elimination of existing erosion and stability problems and improve water quality and aquatic habitat in Buffalo Creek.
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