Work began last week to clean Town Creek in Summerville in an effort to alleviate flooding issues that have plagued the downtown area for many years.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit application to begin the cleaning process of Town Creek that flows from Willow Spring to the Chattooga River. The creek begins at the spring and follows a path under Highway 27 and through Dowdy Park. The creek continues past Ingles Supermarket and Saratoga Apartments before emptying into the Chattooga River below Red Oak Street and the Chattooga County Animal Shelter.
When flooding affected several downtown businesses and residences in 2021, several beaver dams were found and destroyed in an effort to allow the creek to flow more freely. But that was only the beginning of what needs to be done to make sure the water flows towards the Chattooga River without flooding business and residential areas in town. The Georgia Department of Transportation surveyed the downtown area and made suggestions to correct the flooding issues. In addition to cleaning the creek, the state Department of Transportation identified eleven culverts that were trouble spots for flooding.
WZQZ News spoke with Summerville City Councilman Joe Money over the weekend who said that he got word from Summerville City Manager Janice Galloway on Thursday, that work on cleaning the creek got underway on Thursday of last week.
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