• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

UPDATED: River crest predicted on Wednesday

JANESVILLE--The Rock River is expected to crest at 14 feet on Wednesday, city officials announced at the city council meeting this afternoon.

That's good news from this morning when the crest was suppose to reach 14.5 feet on Thursday.

Janesville city officials said at their morning briefing today they're getting ahead of the curve and now are starting recovery efforts.

A few highlights from the city management meeting:

--Hedberg Public Library and the senior center in Janesville will remain open today.

--North Parker Drive is now closed, which is creating "a lot of difficulty" for traffic, officials said.

--All residents in the Mole & Sadler's subdivision were ordered to evacacuate because of sanitary problems. A neighborhood meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the corner of Elgin and Charles.

--Power and utilities were shut off for businesses and residents on the west side of Main Street from Centerway to Milwaukee Street.

--The downtown parking plaza will be closed when the river level hits the steel on the bottom of the Centerway bridge.

--The city has distributed 34,550 sandbags. Sandbag filling and pickup at the City Services Center on Highway 51 is expected to end by noon today because of declining demand, officials said. If the need exists, efforts will continue past noon.

--Sandbags were placed around dams just in case, officials said. A small gap is starting in the Monterey Dam, but officials said it is a low-hazard dam and if it were to break, it will have minimal impacts.

--Police officers are starting to distribute residential damage estimates as they visit homes.

--Traxler and Riverside parks will be under raw sewage, City Manager Steve Sheiffer said. The city is testing water samples, but recovery efforts will include washing down all city buildings and soil and water tests before anyone is allowed back in.

--The city will meet in a previously scheduled meeting Monday with the Jaycees to discuss the 4th of July celebration, which will not be able to be held in Traxler Park.

--The city will need to begin spending "significant money" for cleanup operations, Sheiffer said. The city council will meet at 2 p.m. today and likely will include discussions on spending.

For more information, visit the city's flood site.