In September, Ottawa City Hall got notice that the state will pay 80% of the $4.25 million cost to raise Greet St. above the floodplain. That leaves the city with $850,000 to come up with for the work that will keep that route in and out of the east side open during high water. Mayor Dan Aussem says expect to deal with the potential for a Green St. flood closure again yet in 2022. It’ll take time for the Etscheid, Duttlinger, and Associates engineering firm to make detailed plans.
The grant announcement is one of our top stories of 2021 because the project has been a long time coming and will affect many people. In 2010, City Hall hired an engineering firm to study the options for keeping Green St. open during floods. One of the options was raising the street. The city had that study done because the water level was just a foot from the Main St. Fox River bridge during the 2008 flood. With Green St. closed, closing Main St. would have isolated the east side.