Old Main Street to get new water, sewer lines. And yes, it will be a pain
A major infrastructure project along Old Main Street doesn’t have a start date, but it is being planned and disruptions to downtown can be expected.
“I have a fear of even bringing this up because people will think this is going to happen soon,” City Administrator Carl Callahan said, noting that replacing infrastructure is a key to economic development. “But we are looking at downtown and will do everything we can to minimize disruption by trying to keep access points open. It won’t eliminate disruption by any stretch of the imagination because most of the work will be in the middle of the roadway.”
Life as you know it is going to cease for a period of time and the business community needs to know that.
City Councilman Patrick Roff
Mayor Wayne Poston said downtown business merchants support the project.
“We are keeping the businesses downtown in the loop,” Poston said. “The good thing about downtown is that you don’t have to park there to get to where you want to be. There is plenty of available parking around the project and people will be able to walk to downtown.”
As planning moves forward the city will look at ways to ease disruptions, including the possibility of doing construction at night. Public Works director Jim McLellan said some of the work could be minimized in relation to service lines, but there is no avoiding the major construction to come.
“We could look at lining the sewer lines, but you can’t do that with the water main line,” he said. “We have to replace that line because that’s where the problems tend to happen. We have just started our investigation on this effort.”
McLellan said water and sewer lines under Old Main Street date back to the 1950s and 1970s.
“As someone who has seen the replacement of some of the city’s oldest lines, it is very disruptive,” said Councilman Patrick Roff, referring to previous work in the Historic Ware’s Creek Neighborhood. “Life as you know it is going to cease for a period of time and the business community needs to know that. Main Street will pretty much shut down and that shouldn’t be minimized.”
Callahan said no start date has been scheduled because timing will be crucial. With several projects getting ready to begin in and around downtown, the city is working to limit inconveniences.
A request for proposal is being worked on by the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority.
The scope of work for that project includes the possibility of widening sidewalks, new landscaping and better overhead lighting to improve overall walkability.
We want to do it all at once, but we want to do it right.
Mayor Wayne Poston
Other projects scheduled to begin in 2017 are the $17 million Spring Hill Suites hotel across from city hall, a new parking garage, the $5 million renovation of Twin Dolphin Marina and the $12.5 million expansion of the South Florida Museum.
The timing will be tricky, but Poston said, “We want to do it all at once, but we want to do it right.”
Mark Young: 941-745-7041, @urbanmark2014
This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Old Main Street to get new water, sewer lines. And yes, it will be a pain."