The Department of Environmental Protection has approved permits for the removal of a 500-foot long Broad Street culvert that carries the Assunpink Creek under a portion of Trenton, and to realign and stabilize the creek as part of a long-awaited restoration effort, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced yesterday.
The stream will be stabilized with river stone, boulders and other materials, including native vegetation to be planted on the banks. The project site is about 1,000 feet upstream from the mouth of the Assunpink Creek at the Delaware River
The goal of the project is to offer new recreational opportunities, restore migratory fish habitat, improve the aesthetics of the nearby historic Mill Hill neighborhood, remove an existing safety hazard, and improve the overall stream ecology of the Assunpink Creek by creating an open channel stream system.
Work is expected to start on the $4 million project this spring and be completed by the end of 2016. The project is being financed on a 75 percent-25 percent cost share between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the DEP, which is providing $1 million through its 319(h) federal Clean Water Act grant program.
The project will consist of four components: removal of the existing culvert structure, restoration of the stream bed and fish habitat, restoration of stream banks and planting riparian vegetation, and construction of a pedestrian walkway to connect sections of the Assunpink Greenway.
A new channel will be constructed along an alignment that brings the creek away from the Capital Place One building and closer to Assunpink Drive, which will restore it to a location closer to where it existed historically.
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