More than a year since historic floods hit the Southland, devastating homes and businesses, Calumet City officials are celebrating efforts to prevent such damage the next time disaster strikes.
Officials cut the ribbon Thursday on four new “green alleys,” which together are expected to retain almost 450,000 gallons of water through permeable pavers and help prevent flooding. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago partnered with Cook County, Calumet City and others to fund and install the four improved alleys situated in four different city wards.
The cost of each alley project varied from about $150,000 to $205,000, according to Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones, with 60% covered by the county and 40% by the city, which received financial support from firms like the Farnsworth Group and Greenprint Partners. Jones said Calumet City already constructed three similar alleyways and has plans in place for six more.
“This is what happens when government works together,” Jones said in front of about 50 people gathered Thursday morning at the new alley bordering 153rd Street and Hirsch Avenue. “We know when these alleys went up, every resident wants this alley, this type of alley, in their backyard.”
Permeable pavers are important in creating spaces where water can be absorbed, especially in communities like Calumet City that lack significant green space but have absorbent soils beneath the surface, said MWRD Commissioner Danial Pogorzelski following Thursday’s ribbon cutting.
“Water is life, but water is also deadly,” Pogorzelski said. “So figuring out how do we deal with the blessing that sometimes could be a curse — that’s the challenge.”
To continue the momentum of such environmental efforts, the Calumet City City Council passed an agreement Thursday night to design and construct an underground stormwater management facility at 545 Freeland Ave. Construction is expected to cost about $180,000, Jones said, but will be covered by the developer through “credits” that are sold to those interested in managing stormwater for their own properties.
During the meeting, developer RES Environmental Operating said the firm completed a similar project nearby at Pekny Park in Riverdale, creating a new wildlife habitat and community space that has the capacity to retain 11,000 gallons of overland runoff.
The city also remains committed to a multimillion-dollar rehab of levee systems along Little Calumet River that have been in place for over four decades, Jones said. The project that kicked off in 2022 in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers was originally expected to take around three years to complete, though Jones was unable to provide an updated timeline Friday.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
