Crystal Lake aims to restore underground portions of Crystal Creek

A portion of Crystal Creek that was redirected underground roughly 60 years ago may be returned to its original state within the coming years, Crystal Lake public works officials said.

Recent rainfall patterns, including heavier rainstorms, have increased flooding and rendered the stormwater sewer the creek flows through inadequate, Public Works Director Michael Magnuson said.

During heavy rainfall, the creek backs up and causes flooding upstream and in front of Lundahl Middle School along Nash Road, Magnuson said.

“This has been a stormwater concern for the city for many years,” Magnuson said. “The creek keeps going back to where it was.”

While flooding concerns created the immediate need to restore the creek, Magnuson said it also was an opportunity to revive and expand the creek’s environmental benefits.

“You have a stormwater pipe that isn’t a habitat to anything,” Magnuson said, “and we are going to restore the creek bed. From an ecological standpoint, that will be a major benefit.”

The underground portion of the creek goes from Highland Avenue south to the intersection of St. Andrews Lane and Nash Road; the creek was originally put underground and run through stormsewer systems when the middle school was built, Magnuson said.

The public works department is currently doing conceptual engineering to figure out the restoration project details and will coordinate with the school district’s facilities department for its input, Magnuson said. The earliest the restoration work could begin was sometime in 2023, Magnuson said.

Several years ago, the city replaced culverts under Broadway Avenue, Country Club Road, McHenry Avenue and Dartmoor Drive in order to handle 100-year flooding events. Once the project is underway, the city will also need to install culverts underneath the school driveways, Magnuson said.

Funding for the restoration will be part of the city’s 2022 general obligation bond debt package, approved by the City Council last week.

The city approved issuing $18 million in bonds on April 18, of which $7.7 million will pay for new several water and sanitary sewer projects.

The creek restoration will cost $2.3 million, Crystal Lake Finance Director Jodie Hartman told the City Council.

The three other projects to be funded with the bonds include replacing a mile of the Dole Avenue water main, rehabbing pump station 16, and adding a new deep well and transmission main to the city’s second water treatment plant.