Funding has been secured for Phase III of the Rocky Branch Restoration project, a project meant to repair the creek that runs through campus, Steve Bostian, project manager, said. The project will now begin the next phase of construction.

According to Bostian, this phase of the Rocky Branch Restoration project aims to restore the creek between Dan Allen Drive and Morrill Drive.

“It is about 1600 feet [between the two roads],” Bostian said. “We are going to widen the flood barrier, add rocks for visual interest and a green way path which will make the green [path] continuous between the N.C. Art Museum on Blue Ridge to about the middle of Raleigh.”

Phase I of the project restored the creek between Gorman Street and Dan Allen Drive, then Phase II involved the area between Morrill Drive to Pullen Drive according to Barbara Doll, a water quality specialist. In Phase III, the construction will join the two original construction areas.

“Phase III of the project will connect what we have worked on in both Phase I and II,” Doll said.

Because this section of the creek runs directly through campus, the construction will affect the parking areas at the Student Health Center and the Carmichael Complex lot, according to Tom Kendig, director of transportation.

The Student Health Center lot is expected to lose 19 spaces permanently and 114 will be disrupted during the project, while the Carmichael Gymnasium lot will permanently lose 37 and have 37 more disrupted, Kendig said.

“Certainly there will be an impact during the construction period when those 114 spaces are going to be impacted,” Kendig said. “But we have had meetings with the staff members who will most likely be affected and tried to keep them informed on where else they can park. We do recognize that there will be an impact during the construction period itself.”

The majority of the spaces affected by the project are employee spaces, according to Kendig. He also added that the department of transportation will not sell permits for these spots while the work is being done.

“The spaces are staff permitted spaces and there are other areas where staff members can go,” Kendig said. “We do not sell spots but permits.”

But even though the parking lots are labeled for employees, students use the lots to park for free after 5 p.m. when a permit isn’t required, especially around the Carmichael Complex.

“I can see that it could be somewhat of a deterrent as far as parking [around the gymnasium] goes,” Matt Walston, a senior in both computer engineering and electrical engineering, said.

But despite the short-term parking issues, in the long run the project will help Carmichael Complex, according to Doll. She said the project will install various flood planes which will prevent flood damage such as the damage Hurricane Fran caused in the gymnasium.

“It would take a really massive storm to flood the gym again,” Doll said. “It is at a price but that is just one of our goals to prevent that kind of flood damage.”

But while the project will have results, the construction will take time. The time frame for the project is about nine months, Bostian said.

“We plan to start construction hopefully late this month,” Bostian said. “It should last approximately 300 calendar days until late November.”

This nine month segment is tacked on to a project that has been ongoing since the beginning of the millennium, Bostian said.

“This has been a very long project,” Bostian said. “We have been working on this project since the first time we got funding in 2000. I am really ready to see it completed.”

But once finished, Bostian said he believes the project will be a great improvement to the campus.

“This project will not only provide a green way and additional flood barriers but a living laboratory for our students,” Bostian said. “Before now, the creek had been so badly polluted, but since we started our work on it we have noticed a tremendous increase in animals like birds and fish.”