By Desiree Williams
The Zionsville Street and Stormwater Dept. will soon begin the construction phase of a project that aims to improve the storm sewer capacity and reduce flooding on the 3rd Street corridor between Oak and Walnut streets.
Lance Lantz, superintendent of the Street and Stormwater Dept., said the department already knew of storm sewer capacity limitations on 3rd Street but a series of heavy rainfall in 2013 revealed additional issues and moved the project to the top of the priority list.
“The old part of town is replete with undersized storm sewers, so there are a few areas in town that any time we get a rain of any intensity, a lot of areas go underwater for a period of time,” Lantz said.
The $436,900 project includes the installation of newer, bigger storm pipes and new inlets. It will be completed by Calumet Civil Contractors.
“We hope to see a great reduction in the number of times that roads are under water, what we call ponding, which is water that’s waiting to get into the drainage system, but there’s just no capacity,” Lantz said. “We expect to see a great reduction in the frequency of those occurrences. Further north, there is a capacity limitation where water enters the system upstream and it’s so voluminous that it actually creates geysers downstream.”
Lantz said construction should begin in one month. The contract accounts for 230 days of construction, but it could be completed earlier if favorable conditions occur.
Lantz said there is also asphalt restoration planned in some areas, so even if the pipe and inlets are installed the restoration portion could be pushed until asphalt is available in the spring.
Drivers will be subject to traffic control personnel and some single lane traffic restrictions. A large portion of the construction was already completed over the summer by incorporating a new pipe before resurfacing Oak Street.