Addressing park drainage and standing water issues is a project Elmhurst Park District intends to tackle in 2020. Steps toward achieving that goal were made at the most recent Park Board meeting.
Community feedback gathered in 2016 and 2017 rated District parks in “fair” condition overall on maintenance and upkeep. The District’s Vision 2020 Plan, formed based on that feedback, includes improved condition and maintenance of parks and amenities as one of its primary goals. The improvement of drainage would substantially improve park conditions for visitors.
Drainage issues, while often limited to a small area, can significantly impact the recreational usefulness of the park. Standing water can negatively impact maintenance operations, athletic field usage, special events and passive recreational areas.
Park District staff identified seven of the worst locations for drainage following heavy rains and snow melt. The locations were in Wilder, Wild Meadows Trace (east of Poplar Avenue), East End, York Commons, Butterfield, Berens, and Van Voorst Park.
Concept engineering services for these seven areas were approved by the Park Board in February 2019 and designs were completed by V3 Companies, Ltd. During that process, staff emphasized the importance of identifying opportunities for utilizing sustainable solutions to address the drainage issues versus connections to storm structures.
At the Monday, September 23 Park Board meeting, the Board took next steps and approved the execution of a contract with V3 Companies, Ltd. in the amount of $56,400 for final engineering services of drainage improvements at the seven parks. Services will include a supplemental topographic survey, construction documents and permits and wetland determination and delineation.
Once completed, staff and the Park Board will review these final engineering designs before moving forward with a bidding process for construction work. The tentative start time for the project is late August 2020.
Learn more about the Park District’s plans to improve the condition and maintenance of parks and amenities at vision2020.epd.org.
