Austin regained more than a road when city officials reopened North Main Street Friday afternoon. Residents have regained a little piece of mind as flood mitigation work on the Cedar River is nearly complete.

“This is really a major, major part of our flood project,” Mayor Tom Stiehm said as residents celebrated the reopening of Main Street with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Friday marked one of the final stages of a large portion of the North Main Flood Control project. Ulland Bros. and Reiner Contracting, Inc. have worked to put down flood wall foundations, put in new water substations, build flood walls and more since Dec. 16, 2013. This project marks the biggest push to flood-proof Austin’s downtown area thus far since the area was hit by the biggest flood on record more than 10 years ago.

A long time coming

On Sept. 15, 2004, Austin was hit with the biggest flood anyone could remember. The city had flooded every few years or so sine the 1970s, but no one was expecting the Cedar River to overflow its banks and eventually become 25.2 feet deep.

The water was high enough to extend four feet above North Main Street.

That flood pushed community leaders to begin a large-scale effort to protect Austin from future floods. Several volunteers, including then-mayor Bonnie Rietz, spearheaded efforts to start a local option sales tax plan to fund flood mitigation efforts over a 20-year period. The referendum called for a .5 cent tax on goods and services in Austin. That initiative was easier said than done, however.

“Any time you’re looking at a sales tax, it’s tough,” Rietz said.

Yet the committee not only got a local option sales tax passed, they received permission to move forward from the state Legislature. From 2007, when the sales tax passed, on to today, city officials have used that money as well as state and federal grants to complete work along Austin’s waterways, as well as buy properties along designated flood plains to further flood-proof the area.

Yet the North Main Flood Control project loomed over other flood plans, as the 12-phase project needed several years and millions of dollars to complete. Though the city was able to complete several phases of the plan, it couldn’t start on major flood walls in the downtown area until last year.

City officials wanted to shore up the Cedar from Interstate 90 past Mill Pond and the Fourth Avenue dam, where a bulk of the city’s flooding has taken place. Yet the project was delayed almost two years, as city officials had to deal with ground contamination from the former Sinclair Gas Station.

City officials had to work with the Sinclair Oil Company and the Minnesota Pollution Control in 2012. Since then, the city and Sinclair have worked to figure out who was legally responsible for it.

The city finally bought the property from Sinclair in early 2013, after the company agreed to be liable for the contamination, with Austin responsible for whatever ground contamination it digs up during flood mitigation efforts.

The Sinclair property held up a key $5 million grant from the Economic Development Administration, which the city all but secured in 2010 to pay almost half of the $11 million projects left along North Main Street.

Future flood-proofing

The North Main Flood Control project is almost done. Public Works Director Steven Lang said 11 out of the 12 phases are complete and the city already has scheduled work on the last project, which would flood-proof the Austin Utilities downtown plant area all the way to Lions Park. Workers will also do a little clean-up next spring on the bulk of the construction done in 2014.

In addition, the city is set to begin work on Turtle Creek and Dobbins Creek flood mitigation, which could begin next summer.

Though there’s still more work to be done before Austin is flood-proof, city leaders say flood efforts are already paying off: Recent floods like the one this past summer and in September of 2010 have done little to no damage to the downtown area.

“You can tell it’s working,” Stiehm said.

That doesn’t mean the city can rest on its laurels any time soon.

“Now it’s time to start plowing snow,” Lang said with a laugh.

 Austin’s flood mitigation efforts

Sept. 15, 2004: The biggest flood on record hits Austin, with the Cedar River measuring 25.2 feet.

2005: The city commissions a feasibility study for the North Main Project. City officials begin efforts to convince voters to accept a local option sales tax initiative to pay for flood mitigation efforts.

2006: Austin residents pass the local option sales tax.

2007: City officials begin projects, which include acquiring residential property at Wildwood Park, stabilizing stream banks throughout Austin, and building a berm along East Side Lake.

2010: City officials plan to finish the North Main project, but operations are held up by the old Sinclair gas station property.

March 2013: The Austin City Council approves buying the Sinclair property, city workers finalize the application for a $5 million grant to finish the North Main project.

Dec. 2013: Work begins on the last big North Main project.

Spring 2015: Expected end date for the North Main project.