Removal of final Stillwater crossings starts Wednesday

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CROWN POINT — Work will begin Wednesday to remove the last of three crossings in the Stillwater subdivision as required by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Tris Miles, director of engineering, said the city has until Feb. 14 to restore the final crossing, Greenview Place, to its original condition to comply with the DNR mandate requiring the city to do so.

Crossings at Crooked Creek Trail and Stillwater already have been removed.

“Starting Wednesday morning there will be no going across Greenview Place,” Miles said. Residents will still be able to get to their homes but will have to go around the former crossing.

It is unknown when the crossings will be recreated. Miles said the city cannot submit an application to the DNR to build new crossings until work to remove the existing crossings is complete.

Miles said he has no idea how long it will take DNR to approve it.

Removal of the final crossing will likely cause the lake level to fall. It may also endanger homes and U.S. 231 downstream in the event of heavy rain, something Mayor David Uran said the city has been trying to work with DNR to avoid. The Feb. 14 deadline means time is up.

“We’re against the wall,” Uran said.

As for replacing the crossings, the current DNR proposal calls for using culverts that are significantly larger than the existing 36-inch culverts and larger than the five-foot box culvert downstream that is owned by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Miles said he has been in contact with the Indiana Department of Transportation to discuss the situation and the problems that may arise.