A plan to reroute a street and reestablish a creek will have a public airing Wendesday before the Corvallis Planning Commision. The plan calls for moving the intersection of Southwest Reservoir Avenue with 53rd Street from a troubled junction near a railroad bridge to a spot just south of the fairgrounds.

Planning commissioners will hold a public hearing on a Benton County plan to reroute the street across the old Larson Lumber property.

Construction would move the intersection to just south of the Benton County Fairgrounds and install a traffic signal there and return Dunawi Creek to its historical path on the east side of the property.

The existing intersection of Reservoir and 53rd was labeled for change almost 20 years ago in a traffic study. The study noted limited visibility and regular flooding problems around the railroad bridge could be remedied by moving Reservoir Avenue to the north and bringing 53rd Street out from under the bridge.

Wetlands are concentrated at the west and east ends of the property, where mill ponds and Dunawi Creek were relocated when lumber operations began there in the 1950s.

Reservoir Avenue serves the West Hills neighborhood. Under the plan, Reservoir will move north, around the Larson mill site toward the fairgrounds.

The project is divided into three phases starting with the Reservoir Avenue relocation and Dunawi Creek restoration. Phase 2 includes private development on the site.

Finally, phase 3 calls for a relocation of a portion of 53rd Street to the east and construction of an overpass above the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. At that time, the portion of Dunawi Creek that is now piped under the railroad bridge would be removed and the stream will again flow above ground.

If approved, preliminary site work could begin in June, with phase one road construction and stream restoration starting in April and continuing into fall of next year.

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net