CRANBERRY TWP — The stream that winds its way through the Cranberry Community Park should flow easier moving forward, thanks to a recent Cranberry Township Public Works and Engineering stream bank improvement project.

A video detailing the work done on the stream was presented at a Cranberry Township board of supervisors meeting on Thursday. The project itself was completed about three weeks ago, said Dan Santoro, township manager.

“Recently, we worked through our Public Works department and did a project in-house on the stream bank restoration in Community Park. They did an outstanding job in making those improvements,” Santoro said.

The stream, which flows across the park and behind the playground, overflowed its banks at times, especially in heavy rain, and some trees along the bank were hanging over the edge due to erosion. Frank Murcko of Cranberry Township Public Works explained the improvements would help the stream flow more directly.

“We save a lot of money by doing it in-house,” he said. “They straightened it out somewhat and trimmed the banks, and put matting down, then they put the boulders in place and seeded it. It turned out to be a great job.”

Smoothing out some of the turns in the stream and adding pools and “riffles” to the stream bed helps to slow the velocity of the water, he said.

“It was getting pretty bad there for a little while,” he said. “Now, knock on wood, hopefully, it should be much better.”

Township Supervisor Mike Manipole praised the project for making the stream more accessible.

“The playground up there is amazing. That creek very much interests a lot of the kids who go to the park,” Manipole said. “They love playing in that creek. To know that it’s a safe environment for them, and they can get to it very quickly and safely get down into the water is awesome, and it’s very good to see the natural part being such an important part to the playground.”

The improvements formed part of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) projects for Cranberry, required by the state Department of Environmental Protection, Santoro explained.

“We have over 6,000 feet of stream bank restoration that we need to do in order to comply with our permit in the next couple of years, and this was one we did in-house,” he said. “We wanted to highlight what a great job they did.”

Improving certain quantities of the stream corresponds with removing certain amounts of pollution, he noted.

“They quantify that, so that X amount of feet takes out this amount of pollutants from the stream,” Santoro said. “It’s going to improve the erosion, and it’s going to improve the flow, so the flooding and some of the challenges that we have are all important aspects of the project, in addition to reducing the pollutants or sediment in the stream.”