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Robbinsdale master plan would restore wetlands and improve Crystal Lake
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| Improved amenities in Lakeview Terrace Park is one of the coordinated measures that would help improve Crystal Lake's water quality. |
Improved amenities in Lakeview Terrace Park is one of the coordinated measures that would help improve Crystal Lake's water quality.
Filling of wetlands surrounding Crystal Lake since the 1940s removed all of the lake's natural outlets for drainage. As a result, says a study by HDR Engineering recently commissioned by Hennepin County, water levels rise and fall erratically during storms, leading to flooding of Lakeview Terrace Park and the County Road 81 berm.
The damaged ecosystem and the existing sewer infrastructure also permit high levels of sediment and pollution to enter the lake directly as runoff. According to the master plan study, Crystal Lake's murky water and algal blooms put it in the bottom 10 percent of similar lakes.
"Water resources will be a prime consideration of redevelopment, not an afterthought," said Robbinsdale planner Bill Deblon.
The plan for the 36th and France node makes strategic use of landscaping, including ponds, to increase aesthetics and site drainage. Around County Road 81, the plan would embrace the original wetland topography to channel water naturally, reducing the amount of piped runoff. The master plan notes in particular that Lakeview Terrace Park has great potential to be reconfigured to enhance its multiple functions and to improve the overall water quality of Crystal Lake.
In coordination with the HDR study, the plan would reorganize many of the elements in the park to improve access and drainage-reorienting the baseball fields, changing the road and parking alignments, eliminating the old concessions building, moving or eliminating the hockey rink, relocating the boat launch, creating a new pedestrian entry on County Road 81, and constructing storm water ponds and rain gardens to improve water quality and control flooding.
The HDR study also proposes to improve walking paths, introduce more native vegetation and wildlife, and limit boating on the lake to non-motorized watercraft.
David Johnson of HDR said the water-quality study, completed in October, was prepared to enable local governments to pursue federal and state funding. The study laid out four options for improvements to Crystal Lake that range in cost from less than $1 million to nearly $7 million.
Filling of wetlands surrounding Crystal Lake since the 1940s removed all of the lake's natural outlets for drainage. As a result, says a study by HDR Engineering recently commissioned by Hennepin County, water levels rise and fall erratically during storms, leading to flooding of Lakeview Terrace Park and the County Road 81 berm.
The damaged ecosystem and the existing sewer infrastructure also permit high levels of sediment and pollution to enter the lake directly as runoff. According to the master plan study, Crystal Lake's murky water and algal blooms put it in the bottom 10 percent of similar lakes.
"Water resources will be a prime consideration of redevelopment, not an afterthought," said Robbinsdale planner Bill Deblon.
The plan for the 36th and France node makes strategic use of landscaping, including ponds, to increase aesthetics and site drainage. Around County Road 81, the plan would embrace the original wetland topography to channel water naturally, reducing the amount of piped runoff. The master plan notes in particular that Lakeview Terrace Park has great potential to be reconfigured to enhance its multiple functions and to improve the overall water quality of Crystal Lake.
In coordination with the HDR study, the plan would reorganize many of the elements in the park to improve access and drainage-reorienting the baseball fields, changing the road and parking alignments, eliminating the old concessions building, moving or eliminating the hockey rink, relocating the boat launch, creating a new pedestrian entry on County Road 81, and constructing storm water ponds and rain gardens to improve water quality and control flooding.
The HDR study also proposes to improve walking paths, introduce more native vegetation and wildlife, and limit boating on the lake to non-motorized watercraft.
David Johnson of HDR said the water-quality study, completed in October, was prepared to enable local governments to pursue federal and state funding. The study laid out four options for improvements to Crystal Lake that range in cost from less than $1 million to nearly $7 million.
