Construction of the UK/Nicholasville Road FEMA Flood Mitigation Project on the University of Kentucky campus began on April 9, 2014. The project, designed by Bell Engineering, includes a number of water quantity and quality control measures to be implemented in the Nicholasville Road area adjacent to Commonwealth Stadium. Seven detention basins will be enlarged or modified within the 240 acre watershed including the addition of 8.3 acre-feet of underground stormwater detention to accommodate the 100-year, 24-hour storm. Best Management Practices (BMP’s) such as bio-infiltration swales, bioretention, vegetative buffers, hydrodynamic separators and stream restoration will be implemented as well. Additionally, the project requires a number of utility relocations along Shawneetown Drive and Alumni Drive and relocation of parking lots. Shawneetown Drive will be permanently removed and upgrades will be made at the upstream side of the culvert on Nicholasville Road. When completed, the project is expected to serve a dual-purpose as a passive park with concealed stormwater management attributes.
The $12,000,000 project is funded through a 75 percent FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant used to address drainage and flooding problems caused by an undersized system. The estimated completion date for the project is October 2015.