Thursday, August 12, 1999
County races to lay utility lines
Winter deadline looms
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WHITEWATER TOWNSHIP — Behind schedule and under scrutiny by local emergency and township officials, construction crews will tear into Harrison Avenue on Monday and begin laying new water and sewer lines.
The $2.5 million project is among Hamilton County's most ambitious. Two water mains and a sewer pipe will be laid concurrently into a deep trench under one of the area's primary thoroughfares — and it must be done before winter arrives.
“If the weather holds out and the contractor is supposed to work, work, work, then it will be done. ... But it's a close call,” said Jim Keely, Hamilton County Public Works water line supervisor.
“You've got to tear a whole road out. You've got to maintain emergency access through. It depends on what the good Lord throws at us in terms of rain and snow. If it gets muddy and cold, it's going to be a nightmare.”
This is the first phase of a massive undertaking: bringing public utilities to western Hamilton County, one of the area's final development frontiers.
Sewer and water lines will stretch from Ohio 128 in the heart of Miamitown's business district, up hilly Harrison Avenue to a point about 500 feet west of Buena Vista Drive.
Later projects will extend the water mains further along Harrison Avenue to the edge of Miami-Whitewater Forest. A reservoir and pump station are being built near the Buena Vista Drive intersection to make the lines work.
The current effort was first delayed by protesting residents who do not want to pay additional taxes for water lines they say they don't need. And they fear that the availability of public utilities will bring rampant development to their quiet, semi-rural neighborhood.
Working bit by bit
As deadlines for public comment and lawsuit filings ran out, a new wrinkle emerged: Level 3, a private company with public utility rights, gained permits to install fiber optic cables under the same stretch of road before the sewer and water project could begin.
“It slowed things down a bit earlier this year,” said Steve Mary, bridge and construction engineer with the county engineer's department that is overseeing the effort.
Cincinnati Water Works, Hamilton County Public Works and Metropolitan Sewer District officials coordinated their efforts to lay more than 17,000 linear feet of pipe in this first phase alone.
They will tear up small sections of the road at a time, moving uphill and always leaving one lane-width available as they go, Mr. Mary said.
Tying up traffic
That should alleviate the concerns of local fire officials, as well as business owners who did not want the major road entirely cut off.
“They told us that they are going to do whatever they can to make sure that our emergency vehicles will have access,” said township Fire Chief Bill Darby. He supplied construction managers with a radio to warn them when fire trucks or ambulances are approaching.
But township officials, including Trustee Hubert Brown, worry that the project could add minutes to crucial emergency runs.
Southwest Local School District planners, too, are having to work around the orange barrels that went up Tuesday and limit access to Harrison Avenue. Buses will be able to enter the construction zone to pick up students, but will ultimately have to take a detour.
“You add quite a bit of time to the route, especially in the evening when kids want to get home,” said district business manager Warren Remle. “They probably won't miss any school (in the morning), though. It might be right at the bell, but we'll do what we can to get them there.”
Residents will be able to get to their homes, and limited access will be provided for customers of local businesses. But through traffic will be rerouted onto Interstate 74 and Dry Fork Road.
“In a tight, two-lane road which is a major highway, this is a pretty big project. But I think that they've got it pretty well worked out,” Mr. Keely said.
The best part, he added, is that the different utility lines are being installed together.
“Otherwise, you'd have the road torn up forever,” he said.
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