LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Residents of Lexington’s Gainesway neighborhood have been inundated with the hum of construction as the city works through an overhaul of the sanitary sewer system.
Gathering at the intersection of Gainesway and Greentree Tuesday morning, city leaders shared an update on the project.
“Getting through projects like this one can be a little painful for neighbors,” Mayor Linda Gorton said. “It’s important to remember that we are protecting the environment, and cleaning up our city. That’s worth some short-term inconvenience.”
For years, when rainwater entered the sewer system, it would overload the capacity, causing manholes to overflow and sewage to run into the streets.
“We know two sanitary sewer manholes have overflowed nearly 150 times in this area, just since 2011,” said Gorton, gesturing to the Gainesway neighborhood.
Eventually, the city was sued for violating the Clean Water Act, prompting a multi-year, multi-faceted revamp of the system beginning in 2011.
So far, the Division of Water Quality has completed 52 of the 80 projects on the docket.
In addition to the work in the Gainesway neighborhood, 14 other projects are underway across the city.
“We built storage tanks and started working our way up the hill,” said Charlie Martin, director of the LFUCG Division of Water Quality. “New pipeline in Veterans Park, new pipeline under Man-O-War, one that came all the way up here to Armstrong Mill. So, this is just another segment of the overall fix.”
Replacing and upsizing thousands of feet of pipe takes time, and it will get bad before it gets better.
Initially the intersection of Gainesway Road and Greentree Road will have intermittent closures, with flagmen to help direct traffic.
Later this month, the intersection will be fully closed for approximately one week for pipe installation. The intersection will reopen by March 31, but Greentree Road will remain closed to through traffic from Gainesway Road to New Circle Road until the end of April.
Before the Gainesway intersection is closed, Greentree Road will reopen in both directions from Armstrong Mill to Centre Parkway.
Councilmember Fred Brown encouraged neighbors to be patient. “Try to find an alternate route that works for you,” Brown said. “This is a major project that will be a major improvement.”
