LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Lexington is beginning work on a two-year project that will replace and repair two miles of sanitary sewer lines between Oliver Lewis Way and Tates Creek Road.
The project runs along Euclid Avenue through the University of Kentucky campus, and the Chevy Chase business district.
The two-year project will cost $10.93 million and is part of the city's obligation under the court-ordered consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency to improve Lexington's sanitary sewers.
Starting this week, crew will bring in equipment and materials.
One lane of Winslow Avenue, which runs one-way between South Limestone and South Upper Street, was closed in late January for work related to the University of Kentucky’s parking structure. It will remain closed for staging and construction of the sewer pipe.
Boring on Winslow is expected to begin February 17 with sewer pipes going in the ground starting February 24.
The weekend of March 14 and 15, a new manhole will be installed in South Upper Street and 40 feet of pipe will be laid to connect the manhole to the Winslow sewer. Upper will be closed at Winslow and Winslow will be closed from Jersey to Upper starting at 7 p.m. Friday, March 13 and will reopen no later than 6 a.m. Monday, March 16. Contractors hope to finish the work during the weekend. However, weather or conditions beneath the road may slow progress. If the project isn’t completed over the weekend, nightly shutdowns will be scheduled to allow for completion of the project.
A second sewer crew is also beginning work on a sewer pipe installation running from Patterson Street to South Broadway this week. This segment of the project will have limited traffic impacts on Chair Avenue and Emmaline Lane.
The second crew is expected to complete the Patterson/Broadway segment this winter, and bore under South Broadway in the spring. South Broadway will remain open. During the summer and fall of 2020, the project will move along Bolivar to Upper Street and then connect to the pipes laid along Winslow Avenue.
Over the summer, the sewer project will also move on to Avenue of Champions until the end of 2020. At that point, construction will proceed down Euclid, all the way to project completion in early 2022 at the Tates Creek Road intersection.
The original sanitary sewer was built in 1934 and is in disrepair, with defects and leaks that are difficult to reach. The pipe runs under many buildings, including the UK College of Fine Arts Building. Because the sewer is inaccessible in its current location, the new line is being laid in the street for easier access in case of repairs or other issues.
