Flooding Issues Near Christman Road Could Recede

When it rains, folks living in the Christman Road and Duke Street area know what it’s like to be a bit soggy. However, a solution to flooding issues in that area is moving forward.

The Village Board on Monday agreed to purchase just over 13 acres of agricultural land at Christman Road and Maple Avenue for roughly $228,000. The land is undevelopable and sits in a floodplain for the Fox River. Village planners hope to convert the field to a wetland and divert excess stormwater onto village owned land.

Turning the field into a wetland would clean the stormwater before it ultimately discharges into the Fox River. However, the village has larger plans to tackle flooding issues in that area.

Homes in the area were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s without stormwater controls. The homes and farm field fall within a 146-acre drainage basin. However, the infrastructure in place doesn’t have the capacity to handle all the water that flows during small rainstorms.

“The pipes upstream are bigger than what’s in place. We have to deal with the water down at the bottom end of the drainage basin,” said Village engineering Director Tom Hoffman.

Most engineers design stormwater management infrastructure to accommodate 100-years storms, which is a rare heavy rainfall event that theoretically has a 1 percent chance of occurring each year. Christman Road will flood out in a 2-year rain event, which has a 50 percent chance of occurring in a given year, Hoffman said.

The village will install a larger box culvert system along Christman Road and re-profile Maple Avenue so that water would flow onto the wetland created by the village.

“As part of our project we have upsized the storm sewer near Duke and Princeway,” Hoffman said. “We are helping the water flow out of there. This will be a big improvement in that area, and will help with sump pump discharge. We should also have less icing there.”

Although the system will overtop near Christman Road in the event of a 100-year storm, the main purpose of the land purchase is to retain and clean water entering the Fox River watershed, which is part of a water discharge permit the village has with the state. 

The village is looking for a fall construction date, and the project could be finished late in 2013 or early spring in 2014.