Pike Township Set For $1.5 Million Drainage Project

click on photo to expand
Mayor Ballard announced the project will start in October and should be ready for spring rains in 2009.

Photo by Linda Karn
(posted August 20)

Residents in the Kessler Boulevard and Grandview Avenue area can express a sigh of relief soon. Mayor Ballard and the DPW announced a $1.5 million drainage relief project on the cul-de-sac of 57th Street. The flood prone intersection of Kessler and Grandview Avenue served as a backdrop for the announcement site. The intersection often becomes inundated with high water, forcing 16,000 motorists to seek alternative routes into the adjacent neighborhood of Crooked Creek.

"Six times in the last nine months, a section of Kessler Boulevard between Grandview and Lieber Road becomes impassable due to flooding and standing water and must be closed," the Mayor said.

Louis Ross, president of Crooked Creek Community Council, Inc described the project as "a breath of fresh air" for residents because they will not longer have to tolerate flooding and motorists detouring through the side streets to avoid flood waters. The flooding and standing water problems are due to a storm water pipe's inefficient size to convey the water away from the area.

The project is funded by a $2.25 per month residential user fee that supports the county wide $2 billion sanitary, storm and combined sewer projects.

Steve Nielsen, DPW deputy director and chief engineer, said that master plans for storm, sanitary and combined sewers are coordinated with other subsurface utilities and road projects to minimize the impacts to neighborhoods.

He said there are 291 neighborhoods in the city that qualify for the STEP (Septic Tank Elimination Project) program, but did not have the data available as to the number of areas in need of drainage improvements. Nielsen explained this particular project will have storm pipes paralleling Kessler Boulevard on the north and south sides. The storm pipes that end at Lieber Road will eventually link to a future project north of 56th Street into the 62nd Street area. The system will also eliminate the grit from the storm water before entering the stream.

DPW Executive Director David Sherman said that he is available to listen to community concerns and he welcomes photos and information to better assess neighborhood infrastructure problems.