A long-awaited project to address chronic flooding in a section of Flossmoor is getting underway with the help of funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Officials took part Thursday in a groundbreaking ceremony that will replace 2,600 feet of storm sewers under Berry Lane, Bob ‘O Link Road, and Oakmont and Maryland avenues, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is providing $1.5 million for the work.
It could be completed this fall and is expected to help alleviate flooding that has been a persistent problem for homeowners on those streets, Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson said Thursday.
“This project is decades in the making,” she said.
The existing infrastructure isn’t sufficient to keep up with more frequent, and heavier, rainstorms that have plagued that neighborhood and other areas of the village, Nelson said.
She said that several residents from the neighborhood attended the ceremony, which took place just before another wave of rain, although relatively light, moved through the south suburbs.
During heavier rainstorms, however, the prospect of flooding weighs heavy on homeowners, Nelson said, speaking after the ceremony.
“To see a storm coming and to live in fear of how your house is going to fare is terrifying,” she said.
Along with new sewers, Flossmoor obtained $700,000 through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to replace the asphalt along Berry Lane with permeable paving blocks, which helps contain stormwater runoff.
Nelson said the pavers will be installed along an approximately three-block section of the street.
“It’s going to be a real cool example for other municipalities to see green infrastructure,” the mayor said.
Flossmoor voters in 2020 approved
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a $10 million bond issue to address flooding and to fix streets and sidewalks.Some of the money will be earmarked to address flooding on Flossmoor Road at the viaduct under the Canadian National Railway and Metra tracks.
In 2005, the village had a $2.7 million plan to resolve the problem, but expanded the scope of the work to include addressing persistent flooding problems in residential areas near downtown, according to the village.
Flossmoor had, in 2020, applied for grant money to help pay for the flood mitigation work, which could cost between $5.7 million and $6.5 million. One of those applications is to the Corps of Engineers.
“We’re really hopeful they’ll come back and help with that,” Nelson said.
She said the viaduct becomes impassable several times a year after storms, inconveniencing not just residents but first responders as well. Nelson said it could be a couple of years before work on that next phase of flood control gets underway.