ODOT to restore stream

The project didn't qualify for FEMA funding.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Department of Transportation will begin this summer to restore Mill Creek MetroPark's Calvary Run stream.
The 820,000 project is a stream mitigation effort to offset two road projects set for Mahoning County in the summer that will eliminate other streams.
ODOT wants to eliminate deep ditches along state Route 62 and state Route 45, said Maureen Bachman, ODOT public relations officer. She said since some of the ditches are classified as streams by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, permits require them to be protected in some way.
"Because these [road] projects will disrupt streams, there is an obligation to improve other areas environmentally," Bachman explained, adding that if a stream is removed, EPA regulations say it must be replaced.
That is where Calvary Run benefits.
Scope of project
The proposed project calls for restoring the eroded Calvary Run stream channel and flood plain in the park. The stream has long-term storm damage, causing it to pollute Lake Glacier at its mouth with sediment. The result is an eroded channel and flood plain along with a cloudy lake.
The damage was not enough to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, however. Bachman said that is why ODOT decided to partner with Mill Creek to fix the problem.
The plan calls for stabilizing slumping slopes, installing stream structures, replacing the 48-inch concrete culvert and planting vegetation.
The project also will include removal of a stone wall lining Calvary Run west of a stone arch bridge on West Glacier Drive and replacing it with an erosion mat. A small portion of the wall, however, within 25 feet of the bridge will be restored, Bachman said.
Calvary Run Drive may be closed during construction but Bachman said the closure will likely coincide with the park's annual closing of the road during the winter.
The park stream mitigation project is scheduled to be completed by spring 2008, Bachman added.