State Road construction expected to be done in 2011

State Sen. Mike Stack and Rep. Mike McGeehan announced Friday that the current relief sewer project along State Road is 80 percent complete and the Philadelphia Water Department expects the project to be completed by the end of the year.

“This work is not an easy undertaking, but despite the difficult labor, a harsh winter and unusually wet spring, the water department assures the community that project is well under way and the end is in sight,” Stack said. “Representative McGeehan and I ask for the community’s continued patience as this project continues.”

Stack and McGeehan said constituents have been contacting their district offices to inquire about the completion of the project and recently received a full update from PWD.

“I appreciate the water department and the contractor’s efforts to ensure that this project is completed in a timely manner so that the residents and motorists living nearby are only temporarily inconvenienced,” McGeehan said. “Once the project is complete, we will all be able to appreciate cleaner waterways and fewer incidents of flooding.”

PWD is constructing a parallel relief sewer under State Road from Ashburner Street to Fitler Street to minimize effects of sewer overflows from the existing Poquessing Interceptor Sewer System and preserve the water quality of the Poquessing Creek.

The work includes the installation of new water mains along this section of State Road, as well as the installation of new water mains under Fitler Street from State Road to James Street and under James Street from Fitler Street to Grant Avenue.

The JPC Group, Inc. of Philadelphia is PWD’s general contractor for the project.

Currently, a new water main is being installed under James and Fitler streets and relocating the last section of existing sewer piping under State Road between Arendell and Linden streets. The water main replacement is slated for completion in late July, and the sewer will be completed by early September.

By early August, all work on the relief sewer will be completed, with the exception of the two terminal chambers, located at Fitler Street and State Road and at Ashburner Street and State Road. Landscape restoration will be completed in the fall.

Additionally, workers are constructing sanitary and storm sewers along Arendell Street from State Road to James Street to alleviate ongoing flooding problems in the area.

The Water Department, working in conjunction with the Delaware River City Corporation on their Greenway Trail project, has modified paving restoration plans to provide for relocation of the east curb line of State Road, between Pennypack Street and Linden Avenue to include a fence, hydrant and storm inlet relocations, to prepare the site for  future trail construction.

-From the offices of Sen. Mike Stack and Rep. Mike McGeehan

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