- Mar 21, 2016
Stormwater Project Underway to Ease Neighborhood Flooding
A massive project to construct a new storm sewer along the streets adjacent to Westcott Park as well as construct a 23 acre-foot underground stormwater detention vault underneath the north half of the park began last month. The new storage chamber will have the capacity to hold over 7.5 million gallons of stormwater. The project is designed to alleviate flooding of 91 properties along Farnsworth Lane and adjacent streets in the vicinity of Westcott Park.
The project is the combined effort of the Village, the Park District and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and is expected to cost over $9.6 million using funds from the Village’s stormwater utility fees, and also funds from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
Once completed, an added benefit will be the ability to reuse the stormwater for irrigation and other purposes. The underground chamber will include a rainwater harvesting system which will enable the reuse of water captured during rain storms. Stormwater can also be pumped into truck-mounted tanks for watering new parkway trees or cleaning streets and sewers.
After the work is completed, the north ballfield and the bike path along the west side of the park will be completely reconstructed. While numerous trees within the northern half of the Park were removed in order to install the storage chamber, restoration of the park will involve planting nearly 70 trees and 50 shrubs this fall. A new tree will also be planted to replace each of the eight parkway trees removed along the south side of Farnsworth Lane.
Construction within the Park is expected to be completed by mid-August this year and road work is expected to be finished in November.
Updates on the project can be found at westcottparkproject.com which includes scheduling information, photos, a Frequently Asked Question page, an opportunity to sign up for project updates and a link where questions can be e-mailed.&’ type=’text/javascript’>