Courtesy of WCTV
Plans are underway to finish the water and sewer construction project on Pensacola Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The ongoing construction project to repave West Pensacola Street between Macomb Street and Duval Street and MLK Boulevard between All Saints Street and College Avenue started Monday, Sept. 14
North Florida Asphalt project manager, Kathy Shirah explained the reasoning behind why the roads needed to be repaved.
“The primary function of this project was to replace the sanitary sewer and the water main in Pensacola Street and in MLK,” Shirah said.
The project will be done in phases with irregular lane closures, as the work will be finished. One lane in each phase will remain open as the work progresses to minimize any inconveniences in traffic flow.
Lizzy Kelley from the City of Tallahassee Communications mentioned that the pipes underground are between 50-60 years old and at the end of their “useful life.”
“Like anything, you use for a long period of time, it starts to deteriorate and you have to do maintenance on it,” Kelley said. “There is more potential for it to fail and to prevent that from happening we are going in and replacing it by giving it a system upgrade for water and sewer.”
This project is in place to improve the potable water mains and gravity sanitary sewer mains of Tallahassee.
Along with the underground project, the city has elected to remove some parking spots on Pensacola Street to make way for a bike lane.
The project will not interrupt businesses or residences so that they can remain open. Detour routes will be in place and motorists, cyclists and pedestrians are advised to use caution when in the working area.
The expected completion for the project is Friday, Sept. 25 as long as weather permits.