$9.2M grant will help address south Greenville flooding

FEMA is allocating $9.2 million to the City of Greenville for drainage improvements for the Fork Swamp watershed in the area of Paramore Park and Fire Tower Road.

The money will support upgrades to culverts and floodplain benching to protect Fire Tower Road and neighboring homes against flooding, Director of Engineering Lisa Kirby said in a memorandum to City Council last month.

Floodplain benching is the excavation and grading of an area adjacent to a stream to give water a place to flood into during high flow events, Kirby said.

“This allows the water to spread out and slow down as well as providing additional storage capacity,” she said. “This ensures the stream remains stable, minimizes erosion and reduces flooding.”

Tributaries of the Fork Swamp sytem drain residential and commercial areas around Paramore, Treetops and Bayswater. The system flows southward into Swift Creek, a tributary of the Neuse River.

The proposed project will reduce flooding at the bridge between Paramore Park and Alma Lee Drive and remove at least 26 properties from the 100-year floodplain and improve natural floodplain function, Kirby said.

The project is called Drainage Improvements and Stream Restoration at East Fire Tower Road, and its estimated cost is nearly $12.9 million.

The FEMA award comes from the agency’s Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which helps states, local communities, tribes and territories address a variety risks.

The grant will cover more than 71 percent of the cost, with a required non-federal match of $3.68 million that is expected to be funded from the city’s Stormwater Utility Fund.

The work must be completed within three years of executing the grant agreement.

The three-year timeframe includes design, permitting and construction. FEMA must also review and approve the design before construction begins, which may pause the timeline for review.

“There are many factors that will determine the specific timeline,” Kirby said. “A schedule will be developed during the design phase.”

Once construction begins there will be some traffic impacts along Fire Tower Road during the installation of the culverts.

The exact timeline and duration as well as traffic control measures and detours is not yet known and will be determined during the design of the project in coordination with NCDOT, Kirby said.