City considering restoration of Hudson Bayou’s Oak Street Canal

Exciting news!! A problem that has troubled the neighborhood for years is finally on the verge of being addressed, but we need your help in order to get it done. 

Please sign this petition and let the city know you are in favor of restoring the Oak Street Canal back to its former glory.

For folks unfamiliar with the canal, there have issues with this tributary which been discussed for nearly a decade. Over that time, the canal has progressively deteriorated, and problem has become acute in the last few years due to missteps in nearby development, which caused significant erosion on some Ohio Place properties, and impacting the usability of the kayak launch . 

The city is considering applying a portion of the funding from the penny tax to dredge and restore the canal. This would be beneficial to the neighborhood in the following ways:

• Improved water quality: the receding / deteriorating banks has resulted in untreated storm water discharging directly into the bay, instead of being filtered by natural vegetation.

• Reduced street/residential flooding: accumulated silt has raised the tributory’s bed to the point of blocking and impairing the existing street water drains. This has resulted in flooding on both the street and in homes. Although the city has provided stop-gap clearing, only dredging will produce a long-term solution.

• Improved recreational boating: the accumulated silt has created mounds of debris at the kayak launch as well as at the mouth of the canal. These mounds create unnavigable sections of the waterway which boaters have to circumnavigate. This project will clear these obstacles and make all portions of the waterway accessible.

As with past neighborhood successes your voice is a vital element in letting the city know we care.