Check out this spectacular drone flyover video of the Lick Run Greenway – a 1-mile engineered stream through the South Fairmount neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio implemented by the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati. The project is nearing completion and its unveiling will take place at the end of March.
The Lick Run Project is a stormwater management/Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) reduction project that removes roughly 500 million gallons of stormwater per year from the combined sewer system and carries it to the Mill Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River. CSO 5, located in the Lick Run watershed, is the largest volume overflow in MSD’s service area. The Lick Run watershed covers about 2,900 acres and includes South Fairmount.
The project captures stormwater runoff from about 65% of the Lick Run watershed through a combination of “green” and “gray” infrastructure solutions. Among the green projects are stream restoration, bioswales, stormwater detention basins, and other more natural solutions. Keeping this stormwater out of the combined sewer system means significantly reduced CSOs in the Mill Creek each year, and reduction in wastewater treated at the Mill Creek treatment plant. The stormwater collected from the watershed is conveyed to the Lick Run Greenway, the central element of the project, which includes a headwaters, mile-long, man-made stream, and pond in South Fairmount. The Lick Run project will provide opportunities for neighborhood revitalization and also improve water quality.
Construction of the $90 million project began in July 2017 and is in the final phase. The finishing touches are being added now, with completion slated for late spring 2021 and the official opening of the park shortly thereafter.
The project has been featured in Cincinnati Magazine (February 2021) and Soapbox Cincinnati (February 23, 2021), as well as on the front page of the The Cincinnati Enquirer.
