Patrice Sutton | Lake County
Patrice Sutton | Lake County
The Lake County Stormwater Management Commission has opened a public comment period, which will last just over a week, regarding its request for federal funding for a storm sewer project in North Chicago. The commission is inviting the public to provide input on potential alternatives or impacts of the proposed work in floodplains and wetlands.
In collaboration with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the commission has applied for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as per a Lake County public notice. Comments can be sent via email to fema-r5-environmental@fema.dhs.gov, or by post to Duane Castaldi, Regional Environmental Officer, FEMA Region 5, 536 South Clark St., 6th Floor, Chicago, IL 60605.
According to another Lake County public notice, flooding along Skokie Highway (US 41) and at locations such as the Strawberry Condominiums and Navy housing has had significant impact on property, infrastructure, people's lives, transportation and the local economy. The aim of the project is to mitigate flood risk in these areas. This would be achieved by improving stormwater conveyance and increasing flood storage capacity at several locations along US 41 south of Buckley Road in North Chicago.
The same notice also detailed that undersized storm sewers would be replaced and a new 60-inch relief storm sewer would be installed. Existing culverts would be removed and replaced with a box culvert. The construction of a water quality channel and modification of approximately 3,680 feet of the Skokie River channel are also part of the plan. This will result in a widened two-stage channel.
The project falls within areas identified as wetlands through an assessment of waters in the United States/wetland in the project area according to another Lake County public notice. It is expected that this project will reduce flood elevations at locations such as Strawberry Condominiums, along US 41, and at Navy housing. The Skokie channel would be restored with wetland and upland native seed mixes.
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