BACKGROUND
Wingra Creek is located in a highly urbanized portion of the City of Madison. It is two miles long and runs from Lake Wingra to Lake Monona. Due to low velocity and poor water quality, the creek usually becomes stagnant in the summer months. It is listed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural resources as a 303(d) impaired water body.
Despite its seasonal lackluster appearance, Wingra Creek is still relatively popular among paddlers in the area. However, a shortage of access points and several shallow areas due to sedimentation make canoeing the creek a challenging activity.
A highly-used bike trail follows along most of the length of the creek. Fish Hatchery Road, Park Street, and John Nolen Drive all cross Wingra Creek, making it a very visible natural feature within the city.
In late 2002, the City of Madison held a public meeting to assess community interest in addressing water quality and recreational concerns along the Wingra Creek parkway. The group was in favor of moving ahead to establish a master plan for the area that would focus on the needs of the neighborhood.
Early in the following year, the City, Friends of Lake Wingra, and the South Metropolitan Planning Council held a community workshop where the participants were asked for their input on three areas of interest: environmental quality, recreation, and community building/education.
City Engineering staff used the comments from the workshop and the original 1994 master plan for the Parkway to write a 2003 update to the master plan to reflect the current needs for the area.
CONSTRUCTION PHASES
The project has been divided up into four phases, with the intent that one phase is constructed each winter, with the project scheduled to be completed in 2010.
Phase 1: S Park St to Baird St
Phase 2: Fish Hatchery Rd to South Park St
Phase 3: Baird St to Olin Ave
Phase 4: Olin Ave to Lake Monona (except a small stretch in the middle)
Phase 1 of the project was designed by Strand Associates. The project was constructed over winter 2006-2007 by R.G. Huston, Inc. A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Urban Nonpoint construction grant was awarded for this part of the project.
Phase 2 design is underway, and will be completed by City Engineering staff. We will be submitting for another grant from the DNR for this phase as well.
RESTORATION MEASURES
Many of the restoration treatments that we will be using focus primarily on bank stabilization. Several areas along the creek show signs of severe erosion. Our focus will be to correct this problem and prevent future erosion problems. In some areas where it is appropriate and erosion is not a major concern we will re-grade the slope of the bank and establish native vegetation (grasses, forbs, and maybe shrubs), or we will simply leave the existing vegetation in place where possible. The following list of more rigorous stabilization techniques is not necessarily complete or finalized, though we are currently planning to use them in various areas of Wingra Creek.
In addition to stabilizing the bank, other plans include doing some selective dredging in areas of high sediment accumulation, repairing many of the stormwater outfalls, incorporating several stormwater treatment devices, planting native vegetation in upland areas, providing better fishing access where appropriate, and providing a few spots for easier paddling access. In Phase 1 of the plan, we installed a canoe access point at the corner of West Wingra Drive and Baird Street. |
