Alley sewer repairs in Detroit moving closer to construction
For Detroit homeowners waiting for alley sewer repairs, the big question has been when the project would move from planning to the field.
On Tuesday, the Detroit City Council approved two more contracts, bringing the total to four for the first phase of Detroit's $184 million Alley Sewer Repair Program.
"This isn't to fix DWSD's assets. This is to address private lateral issues in the right of way in every council district," said Sam Smalley, deputy director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
The project targets private sewer connections between homes and the public main line. These are repairs the DWSD says it can't fund using its own capital dollars.
Instead, federal grant funding allows the city to address problems that can contribute to basement backups.
Before any repairs begin, DWSD says residents will first see community outreach. Then, contractors will begin inspecting the alleys.
"They'll show up. They'll put a camera in the sewer, and they'll go all the way up and down the block. And as they pass each connection, the camera will pan and tilt to look up into the private lateral to see if there's a defect," said Smalley.
The city says crews will prioritize areas with known structural defects, sinkholes and other failing connections while following federal eligibility requirements.
Construction is expected to begin around mid-September. The department also says it will track whether the project is delivering the results it was designed to achieve.
"I estimate this is going to significantly reduce the number of water and basement investigations that we have to do on an annual basis," said Smalley.
DWSD says it will report quarterly on how many repairs have been completed, their average cost and the program's progress as construction expands into more Detroit neighborhoods.
