Dredging begins at Wheaton's Northside Park

For the next six to eight weeks, walkers and neighbors at Northside Park in Wheaton will have some company.

An amphibious excavator has been set up in a lagoon on the park's north side and dump trucks will take turns hauling away sediment and water as crews work to make the lagoon about 4 feet deeper.

The work is the second phase of an ongoing project that Wheaton Park District officials say will offer residents more amenities and help ease flooding in the area. The dredging is being done in conjunction with a city project that will remove a culvert beneath Main Street between Cole Avenue and Park Circle Drive, which is expected to help water from nearby Winfield Creek flow more freely.

Executive Director Mike Benard said Batavia-based Earth Werks provided an alternate to an original dredging plan that would have taken between three and seven years. Instead, a pontoon-equipped excavator will do the work.

Crews pumped most of the lagoon's water out last week and will now work to increase the water's depth from an average of about 15 inches to between 5 and 6 feet, with some areas to go as deep as 10 feet. Benard said the work should be done in May or June.

Work on the district's second-oldest park started in September 2009. The first phase, which came in under budget at about $2.4 million, installed bridges and piers throughout the park and upgraded the playgrounds. Additionally, the park district placed plantings along the shoreline that Benard said will improve water quality and prevent erosion, while also serving as a “living educational lab for people to understand the nature of wetlands.”

A third phase will upgrade the park's roadways and utilities and should begin in the fall. Benard is hopeful it can be done by the end of 2012.

Early this month, officials approved a $1.3 million contract with Earth Werks for the second phase. That figure was less than the engineer's estimate as well as the budgeted amount of $2 million, Benard said.

“It was a dream come true,” Benard said. “The contractor came in with a creative solution, and we were able to make it happen. We're thrilled.”

“If there is any good to be had out of the unfortunate economic issues affecting everyone it's that we are getting work done for less money than years ago,” he said.

Meanwhile, city officials hope property owners along Main Street just east of the park give them the OK to move forward on a project that will remove a culvert that runs beneath North Main Street between Cole Avenue and Park Circle Drive. The roughly $3 million project will allow Winfield Creek to flow more freely during times of high water, City Manager Don Rose said. Rose said a bridge will be built over the creek.

“The project won't eliminate all instances but it will significantly reduce the times that flooding occurs,” Rose said.