Project aims to curtail flooding

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GREENFIELD — Soggy front lawns, water creeping up nearly to the doors, has been a common sight in Chandler’s Addition over the years.

With every heavy rainfall came familiar flooding issues for the small neighborhood just east of Riley Park.

City officials have heard homeowners’ complaints for years and hope a drainage and street reconstruction project will curtail the problems.

Prep work in Chandler’s Addition, located east of Apple Street and north of Main Street, started last week, with construction slated to begin in coming days.

The project focuses on Sixth and Seventh streets from Berry to Cherry streets and Cherry Street from Fifth to Seventh streets.

The addition was plotted in the 1890s and has been prone to flooding for years because of undersized storm sewer lines and other problems, officials have said.

The addition has seen a number of infrastructure improvements targeting storm sewers during the past two decades. The current project is the next phase of those improvements.

The area usually sees flooding after it rains, said city engineer Karla Vincent. After a heavy storm, yards and driveways in the 100-acre housing addition see a few feet of standing water. Some of that water nearly reaches doorways, she said.

Sanitary sewer systems in the area will be replaced, as the current ones are in poor condition, and a portion of Sixth, Seventh and Cherry streets will be reconstructed in the process.

The alley running east and west between Sixth and Seventh streets will also be reconstructed.

To improve drainage, the streets need to be lowered, Vincent said.

“We need to give the water some place to go,” Vincent said. “By lowering the street, it can drain better.”

Work is expected to begin on Sixth Street, and crews will work on one street at a time until the project is wrapped up.

The streets will need to be closed while the work is being complete, and city officials will work with residents to alert them to street closings and detours, Vincent said.

Most residents should have access to the neighborhood through nearby alleys, Vincent said.

As part of the project, curbs and sidewalks will be installed in the area — features the addition, which features mainly gravel driveways, hasn’t seen, said Mayor Chuck Fewell.

Old mailboxes will be replaced, and the new pavement will give residents on-street parking, Vincent said. Right now, many park in gravel driveways or front yards.

Construction should be finished by the end of October.

Councilman Mitch Pendlum, who represents residents who live in Chandler’s Addition, said he’s heard from several residents over the years about the flooding in the area.

He wishes the work could have been completed sooner, as it will improve their properties, he said.

When residents asked, he always told them it was on the to-do list.

“We’re going to take care of them now,” he said.