Road and sewer work moves to Knightville

SOUTH PORTLAND — The city of South Portland is about to launch $1.8 million in street and sewer upgrades that will keep parts of Knightville under construction through 2012.

Work is slated to begin on the first two phases (of six) in August. Although city officials promise disruption this year will be "minimal," they say drivers can expect  “significant detours" next summer, when much of Ocean Street will be dug up.

According to Daniel Riley, senior project manager for Westbrook-based Sebago Technics, the firm hired to oversee the process, three different projects were bundled into together in hope of saving money. In addition to routine road and sidewalk repairs, he said, jobs will include construction of the city's new bus transit hub and the latest in a decades-long "sewer separation project."

The latter work involves replacing 8-inch water mains in Knightville, some of which are clay and brick pipes dating to 1892, in order to divert rainwater directly into Casco Bay. Currently, stormwater ends up in the same system as household sewage, which can overload the treatment plant, causing CSO (combined sewer overflow) events.

"During wet weather, these older sewer networks simply don’t have the capacity to handle all that water and the combined flow, from household sewage and stormwater, overflows into the bay and goes untreated," explained Riley, at a public information session held Thursday at City Hall.

"Right now, we just can't pump enough through there without blowing manhole covers off," said the city water engineer, Brad Weeks.

Two decades ago, said Weeks, South Portland had more than 20 CSO points, which would dump raw sewage into Casco Bay when rainwater streaming off impervious surfaces – like roads, homes and parking lots – would overload the sewer system. Today, he said, only six overflow points remain, thanks to the city's ongoing separation efforts. But even so, some 14 million gallons still back up into the bay each year.

"If you look overall at the state, we're down to the single percentiles of what this city contributes to CSOs overall, which is tremendous," said Weeks. "We've got a great program in place, but this is the hardest six [overflow points] to try and get rid off. All of the low-lying fruit in the city has been taken care of."

City Manager James Gailey noted in budget presentations earlier this spring that no bonding will be required for the street and sewer work. The sidewalks are being rebuilt with CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds, while federal transit dollars are being used for the transit hub. Sewer fees, however, have gone up, partly as a result of the separation project.

Riley and Weeks could not say how much stormwater from the 15-acre Knightville district will be directed away from the treatment plant – that depends on how much it rains, they said – but both agreed doing so will save money.

"All of that stormwater obviously increases costs to the treatment plant and takes away its capacity," said Riley.

"Less flow, less pumping, less aeration, less electricity [used] – across the board, its going to help," said Weeks, although he admitted the city has not calculated how much money might be saved, or how many years might be added to the life of the treatment plant, thanks to reduced flow.

Bid packages are out now for this year's work, expected to cost "about $500,000," and will be opened July 14. Hopefully, said Weeks, the City Council will award a bid at its first meeting in August, and work will begin soon thereafter.

Construction this year will occur on Ocean Street, from where the Greenbelt Trail crosses it near Broadway to the intersection of Market and Hinckley Streets. Work there will include installation of new sidewalks, made of concrete, with granite curbing, as well as milling down the street and adding a new layer of pavement.

"The streets have been overlaid many times over the years," said Riley, "so, the pavement has sort of crept up. There are some places, particularly near the Greenbelt, where the sidewalk is right at the paving grade, with very little curb left. That obviously introduces more water and salt onto the sidewalks during the winter and accelerates deterioration.

"Right now, the sidewalks have reached their useful life and need to be replaced," said Riley.

Construction, he said, will be limited to the hours between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., and while the approaches to Ocean Street from Market and Hinckley will be closed "for not more than two weeks," two-way traffic on Ocean Street will be maintained throughout the building period, which is expected to last into early December.

During that time, work also will take place on the harbor side of Ocean Street, between Hinckley Street and the City Hall parking lot, and on Thomas Street, from City Hall to Ocean Street. Although access to the City Hall lot will be maintained at all times, Thomas Street will be closed to through-traffic while seven stormwater catch basins in that area are disconnected from the sewer system.

During this time, the municipal parking lot also will be rebuilt, to include space for 50 vehicles. Although more cars than that can fit in the current lot, Riley points out that's primarily because there is no striping in the gravel area at the corner of Thomas and Ocean Streets, where the transit hub will go. That, he said, allows people to "pack 'em in."

To help further reduce storm water runoff, some of the new parking spots will be made from "pervious pavers," which allow water to filter into the ground below instead of running to the nearest drain. Where regular asphalt is used, Riley said, water will be diverted into two new "green areas" for filtration. 

Transportation Director Thomas Meyers said a construction timeframe for the new Thomas Street transit hub depends on delivery of federal Transit Authority funds being used for the project. The foundation slab is likely to go down this year, he said, but the new 20-square-foot building may not be complete until next year.

While Thomas Street is being rebuilt, he said, the bus stop there, if not the covered waiting areas, will be moved to Hinckley Street. The new transit station may eventually be heated and equipped with messaging systems announcing arrivals and departures. But until then, said Meyers, "it will still be a much more inviting, comforting place to wait."

The hub has been in the works since a 2007 regional transit study declared it a priority, and has become even more needed, says Meyers, since last year, when the city was forced to reduce some service.

Work expected to begin next spring will include the balance of Ocean Street, from the Market/Hinckley intersection, through Legion Square, to Waterman Drive. Work also will take place on E Street, F Street and on Cottage Road, between Thomas and F Streets.

In all, 36 storm water catch basins will be disconnected from the sewer system at that time, and new outfalls will be put in at the end of E and F streets, as well as in a new runoff pipeline paralleling Waterman Drive. Roads, sidewalks and curbing will be rebuilt where disrupted.