|
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Residents living along the Grand Canal in the West Valley of the Phoenix metro area are now enjoying the benefits of a new multi-use flood control facility.
On April 24, 2008, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (District) dedicated the completion of the third segment of the Bethany Home/Grand Canal Flood Control Project. Referred to as Reach 2C, the segment is a $20.5 million joint project between the District and the cities of Glendale and Phoenix. The project reduces the flood hazard along a 1.5-mile section on the north side of the Grand Canal between 83rd Avenue and 73rd Avenue.
Reach 2C is the third section of a four-part, five-mile-long flood control and neighborhood rejuvenation project along the Grand Canal stretching from the Loop 101 freeway at Bethany Home Road to 64th Avenue and Indian School Road. When completed, the entire project will remove approximately 750 homes from a floodplain, beautify neighborhoods along the canal, and provide numerous multi-use recreational opportunities.
County and city officials, project partners and onlookers gathered for the dedication ceremony led by Mary Rose Wilcox, Maricopa County Supervisor, District 5. “You wouldn’t know by looking at this beautiful greenbelt that it is a flood control project,” Wilcox said in her opening remarks. Buried under the lush grass, trees and crushed granite landscaping of the linear greenbelt runs a series of large concrete box culverts which capture and convey stormwater that in the past has flooded hundreds of homes on the north side of the canal. “Floodwater captured behind the Grand Canal has plagued residents for decades,” said Wilcox. “The problem of repeated flooding has now been resolved.”
Reach 2C features recreational amenities such as lighted concrete multi-use paths, picnic areas and ramadas, neighborhood access nodes, playgrounds, a Glendale regional park, and an equestrian staging area near 83rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road where the dedication ceremony was conducted. Two riders from the Glendale Equestrian Club brought their horses for a demonstration.
Glendale Councilmember Joyce Clark reminded the audience of the social and aesthetic value of the greenbelt. “This project makes our community more livable, enhances our economy through civic improvement and tourism, and preserves much needed open space as we get denser throughout the valley,” she said.
Tim Phillips, chief engineer and general manager of the District, lamented the fact he could not show off the actual flood control aspects of the project. “The only thing that would be better today is if it was pouring down rain and we could see how well this facility works.”
|
