New St. John’s sewer coming to Water sStreet

The City Planning Department is set to replace the century-old water and sewer infrastructure with a new St. John’s sewer on Water Street, with three works stages to commence in 2016.

Each works section on the busy shopping street will be scheduled consecutively over one year, spanning the full projected term of the project. The plan to divide the works into segments is meant to help mitigate the disruption to the area's businesses and shoppers.

According to a CBC report, St. John’s city council said the sewage infrastructure is in dire need of modernization. Some downtown businesses have experienced flooding.

“Obviously it's going to be a huge headache for businesses in the downtown, but it's something which needs to happen," said Councillor Jonathan Galgay, as quoted by CBC.

Councillor Dave Lane outlined the project details on his website, highlighting key features like the laying of new pipes and replacement of the old cast iron water main. He also stipulates that the “affected properties will be charged for Civic Improvement Assessments for new infrastructure installed.”

Lane continues by stating that “property owners will be assessed for the new storm sewer main and any upgraded and/or new service lateral connections to properties. There will be no assessments to property owners for the new water main and sanitary sewer main to be installed.”

The city has said that it will engage the downtown business community about the new St. John's sewer with regular meetings and information sessions on street detours and interruptions ahead of works.

Photos by: Wikipedia, Jonathan Galgay