Ottawa begins work on Green Street elevation project

Although its position at the convergence of the Fox and Illinois rivers is a major attraction for Ottawa, those bodies when they overflow also supply some of its biggest headaches and costliest inconveniences.

A long-awaited project, however, is getting underway on the east side of the city to alleviate at least some of that trouble.

The Green Street Elevation Project, an effort to raise the level of that street above the 100-year floodplain, has started, and although the construction may cause some temporary delays now, it should pay off when the spring rains are at their most plentiful.

“We’re raising the elevation of Green Street,” said Ottawa City Engineer Tom Duttlinger of the firm Etscheid Duttlinger and Associates. “That way, during floods, there will be access to the east side from Green Street at all times. We won’t have to close it anymore. … We expect to have the entire project complete by October, so it’s moving along.”

When Green Street closes, it typically affects Ottawa High School’s attendance.

The project calls for the installation of three 8-foot-by-12-foot precast box culverts and water main and storm sewer lines under a portion of the street from Chapel Street on the south end to where Green Street curves to the east. That section serves as one of the city’s often-used paths to roads leading to Marseilles.

Duttlinger said the city has obtained the right-of-way at that curve to flatten out, and right now there is a snow fence where the new road will be.

When finished, the effort will have raised the level of the street by 12 feet above the existing grade, thus eliminating much of the flooding that closes that road almost every year.

The monetary cost will be about $3.4 million, helped in large part by an 80% grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Stott Contracting of Morris was the lowest of six bids for the work at $2,848,447.

Duttlinger said there are some public utilities – a water main, plus lines for electrical, gas, phone, fiber optics, etc. – now being relocated.

Work is expected to begin on a temporary access road for the Shoreline Boat Club, 917 Green St., and the residences in the area. That, Duttlinger said, should be finished in mid- to late July.

“We know it’s going to be an inconvenience for about six months or so,” Duttlinger said, “but it will definitely be worth it in the end.”