|
|
Thursday, September 9, 2010 |
Serving Seguin and Guadalupe County since 1888
|
|
|
Marketplace
Sections
Services
Service Center
|
|
 |
|
Walnut Branch park project is set to resume
Published March 21, 2010
SEGUIN — Work will restart soon on the Walnut Branch Linear Park Project after construction was halted for about two weeks while some problems were worked out.
A.G. Hodges, projects manager for the city, said there appeared to be a need for additional lighting in the park and plans were revised to add some more lights.
Another problem arose when a sewer line was found running along the south and west side of Walnut Branch, and a decision was made to add another layer of rocks in the bed of the stream in order for water to be running over the rocks rather than directly on top of the sewer line. There also was determined to be a need for more rock in the streambed near Nolte Street.
Hodges said additional rock had been ordered and work will resume when the rock arrives.
The Walnut Branch Park Project dates back to May 2006 when city voters approved the Destination Seguin bonds which included funding for reconstruction of work done along the stream by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) during the 1930s.
“We’re trying to bring back history in the city,” Hodges said.
Although the WPA project extended farther downstream, the project currently under way runs along the length of Walnut Branch between West Court Street and West Nolte Street. When the current project is completed, there will be walkways along both sides of the creek.
One of the walkways will come off Guadalupe Street along the south side of Walnut Branch up to street level at the midpoint and at Nolte Street. There also will be a walkway from Travis Street along the south side of the Memorial Rose Garden down to the stream.
A significant part of the project is a parking lot being constructed just west of the existing parking lot for the Guadalupe County Administration Building. The parking lot will have 23 parking spaces including two handicapped spaces, and its exit will be into the parking lot and driveway behind the Administration Building.
A pedestrian bridge will cross Walnut Branch from just south of the new parking lot to the back yard of the Matthies house which the city has purchased to become the home of the Wilson Pottery Museum.
With the pedestrian bridge, Hodges said, the parking lot will be available to provide spillover parking for visitors to the Pottery Museum.
“There’s remnants of the old WPA project,” Hodges said, mentioning a dam located north of the Nolte Street bridge. The dam has been determined to be of historical significance. “We’re unable to do anything with it. It will stay as is.”
He said there originally were several dams impounding reflection pools along the stream, but the dams were removed during the polio scare of the 1950s when health officials were concerned that stagnant pools of water might be the source of polio germs.
The park has been designed for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) access, and only one small area lacks ADA access. It is the walkway approaching a spring located behind the Creekside Grill. To reach the spring, visitors must go down a short flight of stairs. Hodges said that problem could be alleviated by the city purchasing a vacant lot west of the tract where the city parking lot is being constructed.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print |
Comment
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|