Lexington is restoring a mile-long section of Cane Run Creek between Citation Boulevard and the interstate.
“The project will protect and beautify this area,” said Charles Martin, the city’s Director of Water Quality. “Although some trees will be cut down to make the improvements, new native vegetation and trees will be planted. We will plant more trees than we remove and we will improve a larger area.” Several significant trees, including two bur oaks, will be preserved.
Portions of the stream will be relocated, roughly to its original path, and the banks will be stabilized and restored, allowing water to move more slowly when it rains, reducing erosion along the creek banks.
“Runners and cyclists on the Legacy Trail will get a close-up view of the project as it is completed over the next 18 months,” Martin said. A portion of the creek runs alongside the trail.
The project is one of many the city is undertaking to improve water quality as part of the 2011 Consent Decree, a legal agreement between the state, the EPA and the city requiring Lexington to clean up its streams. The improved stream will help filter pollution from rainwater runoff.
Bluegrass Community and Technical College Students for Peace and Earth Justice will co-host a stakeholder meeting about the restoration project at 6 p.m., Monday, January 23, on the first floor of the BCTC Newtown Campus Classroom Building, 500 Newtown Pike. The meeting is open to the public.
