MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—Aqua Ohio has announced plans to replace over a mile of water main along Mount Vernon Avenue. The project, which is set to begin in January, has a budget of $3,163,860. Signs announcing the project and its impact on traffic will be installed along the route starting Monday, December 18th.
The construction will commence at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Church Street and conclude at Forest Lawn Boulevard. To minimize traffic impacts, Aqua has divided the project into four phases.
“This is a really large project that will continue into the summer. We’ll keep the public and area drivers informed about our progress with regular announcements,” said Aqua Ohio’s Area Manager, Scott Ballenger. “This project will double the size of the pipe that supplies service to our customers in eastern Marion County.”
The scope of the entire project includes replacing 5,900 linear feet of 120-year-old, six-inch cast iron water main with 12-inch ductile iron pipe along Mount Vernon Avenue from Church Street to Forest Lawn Boulevard. It also involves connecting 71 customers to the main with new service lines for the company-owned portion of the service and informing customers if the service line they own is lead and should be replaced.
The project will increase the number of fire hydrants in the area from 12 to 15 to improve fire protection and the number of valves from 20 to 44 to help isolate disruptions during future repairs or maintenance. The construction is set to begin the first week of January and is expected to take approximately six months.
Phase Two of the project includes replacing the water main between Bradford Street to Forest St., connecting 18 customers to the main, and installing 4 fire hydrants and 9 new valves. This phase of the project will begin the fourth week of January and take approximately eight weeks to complete, weather permitting.
During this portion of the project, westbound traffic will be maintained, but lane closures and parking restrictions will be necessary in active construction areas. Eastbound traffic will be detoured down East Church Street to Sargent Street to East Center Street to U.S. 23.
Lawn restorations will be completed in the fall of 2024. Water service will be maintained throughout construction. However, customers receiving new service lines will experience short-term interruptions while their services are connected to the new main near the end of the project. Those customers will be notified by Aqua in advance of the planned interruptions.
Underground Utilities Inc. of Monroeville, OH was selected to perform the work. In addition to this $3.1 million project, Ballenger said the company expects to spend more than $65 million across Aqua’s 40 Ohio systems in 2024, approximately $10 million of that will be invested in the Marion area.