Kinston Free Press Mar. 5, 2009

Adkin Branch project begins Monday

The Free Press
March 5, 2009 - 6:24PM
RALEIGH-State environmental officials and the city of Kinston announced Wednesday that construction activities are scheduled to begin March 9 on a stream-restoration project on Adkin Branch in Kinston.
Construction activities will occur within conservation-easement areas created in voluntary agreements between local landowners and the state.
For the safety of residents, the construction area will be marked with safety fencing and silt fencing where necessary.
"We want everyone to be aware that this will be an active construction zone and that construction equipment will be operating at various locations along the creek during the project, which we expect to last until October," Steve Miller, water-resources manager for the city of Kinston, said. "For safety purposes, no pedestrians will be allowed to walk through the construction areas."
State and city officials will break ground on the project at a March 9 ceremony in Kinston. The 11 a.m. event will be held at the Holloway Recreation Center, located at 101 Myrtle Ave.
Participants at the event are scheduled to include Mayor O.A. (Buddy) Ritch Jr., City Manager Scott A. Stevens, city council members, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Secretary David Knight and N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program Director Bill Gilmore.
A walking tour of the project site will follow brief remarks on the history of the project.
Substantial construction, including earthmoving activities, will last until October. The construction activity will occur between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. No road or bridge closures are expected; however, pedestrian traffic will be affected and two of three existing pedestrian bridges will be replaced at Holloway Center and Washington Avenue.
The project is being carried out by the N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program, an initiative under the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources that derives from an agreement among the department, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The 10,000-linear-foot project on Adkin Branch, a tributary of the Neuse River, is designed to reduce sedimentation and pollution runoff into the stream, as well as to control erosion. The project also will restore about 40 acres of creekside buffer in the Neuse River basin that will filter stormwater and increase floodwater capacity.
After construction activities are completed, native trees, plants and grasses will be planted within the easement between December and January. Under the terms of the conservation easement, residents are not allowed to mow, cut or remove any vegetation or spray herbicides within the easement.
Further information on the project may be obtained by contacting Kristie Corson, EEP project manager, at (919) 715-1954 or Miller at (252) 939-3285.