The Woottons Mill Park Stream Restoration project is now more than half complete. The work adjacent to the Paulsboro Drive townhouses is complete, as is all work from this point upstream (north) to the large pedestrian bridge located off the end of Aintree Drive. The uppermost section of the project, near Watts Branch Parkway, also is complete. The contractor is currently working on the Glenora tributary and will finish this stream area, and some of the adjacent wetland enhancement work, within the next month. The contract completion date is January 2006, but the City and contractor are hopeful that the project will be completed by the end of November 2005.

There are two changes to the plans: One involves a change to the proposed stream restoration while the other only affects a proposed construction access route.

When the City received federal and state permit authorizations prior to the beginning of the project, the “realigned” portion of the stream was not included. This is the area just upstream of the Aintree pond, where the sanitary sewer manhole is currently located in the middle of the stream. The original design was to replace a curvilinear 700-foot section of stream with a straighter 500-foot section of stream in a new location. The old channel was to be filled. While the state and federal regulators were willing to favorably consider the stream work, they would not allow the old channel to be filled. In staff’s opinion, the filling of the channel was crucial for two reasons. The first is that creating an abandoned area of stream that would hold water is undesirable. The second is that the abandoned channel was needed for the excess soil. Therefore, after discussions with the regulators, this area is being redesigned so that the existing alignment will be generally preserved. The design will utilize stone armoring and restoration techniques similar to the rest of the project. The current schedule calls for completing the design and receiving all necessary federal and state authorizations within eight weeks. There is other work that can be completed in this timeframe without having to extend the construction duration.

The second plan change involves the access to the lowest portion of the project (about 600 linear feet of stream). The original plan was to access this work from Wootton Parkway, across from Wootton High School. After discussions with the contractor and with the approval of Washington Gas, it was determined that accessing this work from an existing Washington Gas easement is preferred. This will eliminate all impacts to Wootton Parkway and the pedestrian path across from the high school. Forestry impacts also will be reduced since the contractor will be using an existing cleared pathway. The contractor will access the gas easement from its main stockpile area. This is the area near the large pedestrian bridge at the end of Aintree Drive, along existing construction routes established to complete the work adjacent to Paulsboro Drive.

If you have questions about this project, contact John Scabis, Project Manager, at jscabis@rockvillemd.gov or at 240-314-8500.