Wares Creek Dredging on the Horizon

When Maryanne K. Lawler says she's been waiting her entire life for the creek to be dredged, she is not exaggerating.

She was literally the size of a peanut when her parents, brand new to the Wares Creek neighborhood, signed a petition to have the creek dredged. Lawler's parents moved to the neighborhood soon after finding out they were pregnant with their daughter.

On Tuesday night, Maryanne was one of scores of people who came out to Ballard Elementary School to get the latest update on when dredging will begin and what the residents who live around the creek can expect.

They wanted to know the schedule, the depth of the dredging, how the creek would be maintained in the future, when and which bridges would be replaced and why there would be no dredging north of Manatee Avenue and what that would mean in the long term. They also wanted to know whether the project would provide any local jobs since the dredge company is from out of state.

Representatives from the county, the Army Corps of Engineers, the dredge company and the city were all on hand to answer their questions.

The first phase of the project is set to begin within the next two weeks and a ribbon cutting is scheduled for Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. The public is invited to the event.

Transwest Dredge is expected to begin site preparations for the dredging project before the groundbreaking, said Glenn Wood who is managing the dredge project.

Wood said he has already begun hiring local contractors, including tree trimmers, a sign company, local labs for environmental testing, he is leasing local equipment such as dump trucks and bulldozers.

"We are bringing in a dredge and one tank," he said.

Dredge work will take place six days a week: Monday thorugh Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The dredging is expected to be completed in March, but could take longer depending on what is in the creek and unforseen problems with the dredging.

Transwest is digging 4- to 5-feet deep and pulling up that material and drying it in the parking lot of the former city hall. Officials warned that the materials coming out of the creek will smell bad. The first phase of dredging will take place between the 9th Avenue bridge and Manatee Avenue.

The second phase is expected to go out for bid in the spring, and work dates have not yet been determined.

Dredging will not take place on the north side of Manatee Avenue because the state's Department of Environmental Protection said it is not necessary and it is not part of the flood control project.

Once the creek is dredged and water is able to flow under the bridge at higher rates than it currently flows, some engineers expect that some of the silt on the north side of the bridge will be pushed out into the river.

Residents were skeptical about the the answers to dredging the north side of Manatee Avenue, but overall were excited that the dredging is actually about to begin after decades of waiting.

And city and county officials promised that they would be vigilant in making sure that the creek does not fill with silt again. Local officials have signed a contract with the federal government promising to maintain the creek bed and the pipes once the creek is dredged.