Bigger stormwater basin to alleviate flooding in Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights plans to increase the size of a stormwater detention basin to alleviate flooding in the Cypress Street area - the first major project to be funded in part by a newly implemented stormwater utility fee.
The village board Monday agreed to pay $673,573 for engineering and design of the project, which would increase the capacity of the existing basin on the northwest corner of Arlington Heights Road and Cypress Street. Plans would include the necessary underground work to carry water to the area, such as the creation of a lift station to bring water to higher elevations.
Construction of the estimated $5.8 million project would start next year and mean the closure of community gardens on the village-owned block at the end of this year, according to Village Manager Randy Recklaus.
The village has owned the undeveloped property for some time and allowed the park district to provide garden plots on a large portion of it. Recklaus said gardeners were informed that the flood mitigation project was coming, and the park district is looking to relocate the garden plots to another park.
The Cypress area improvements were deemed to be among the highest priority of 17 stormwater projects - at a cost of some $40 million - identified after a July 2011 storm. Officials believe increased capacity of the Cypress basin could help reduce street and surface flooding in the area.
The village board last August approved a new $6.25-per-month fee to help fund some of those projects. The revenue will help pay off $10 million the village borrowed in a bond issue earlier this year for the enlarged Cypress basin and five other stormwater projects deemed by village officials to be high priority.
Design work also is expected to begin soon for work to install larger sewer mains in the downtown area. Those upgrades are estimated to cost $2.1 million.
The Cypress area engineering study approved Monday also will examine relocating water mains from rear yards into public rights of way, though that project might not take place at the same time as the basin enlargement, Recklaus said.
The work is targeted for completion in late 2019 or early 2020.