Great Lakes Water Authority announces $81 million update to 14 Mile Road water main

After years of water main breaks along 14 Mile Road in Oakland County, the Great Lakes Water Authority is moving forward with an $81 million project to prevent future failures.

GLWA leaders announced plans Tuesday to replace and rehabilitate six miles of critical water infrastructure after repeated breaks raised concerns about the reliability of a transmission line originally expected to last about 100 years.

Officials say the pipe was expected to last about 100 years, but began experiencing failures after roughly 50 years. After several breaks, including a major rupture in March, GLWA says it no longer has confidence in that section of the system and is moving forward with a long-term replacement plan.

"We agree with that, and we're going to do what we can to get there as fast as possible," GLWA CEO Suzanne Coffey said.

"It was a serious rupture that required some individuals to be rescued from their vehicles," Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich said.

Coffey said the repeated failures prompted the utility to move beyond repairs and pursue replacement.

"You might remember us saying the pipe should last 100 years. It's 50 years old and it's breaking," Coffey said.

Under the project, GLWA will replace three miles of aging 48-inch water main between Haggerty and Farmington roads with a new 54-inch steel pipe. Another three-mile section extending east to the Franklin Pump Station will be inspected and renewed as needed.

The utility also plans to install an acoustic fiber-optic monitoring system designed to continuously monitor the pipe and help identify potential issues before they become major failures.

"We're going to install what we call acoustic fiber-optic cable. This cable can effectively listen to wire breaks. Once we inspect it and establish our baseline, it will listen continuously," Coffey said.

Residents should also expect traffic disruptions as construction gets underway along the 14 Mile Road corridor.

"I'm so proud of GLWA for making the decision to do something very bold, which, buckle up, is going to also be very inconvenient for a while. But at the end of the day, it's going to be a good thing," Rich said.

GLWA says the project will be funded through its existing capital improvement program, supported by a combination of utility revenues and bond financing.

Construction is expected to begin in November and continue into early 2028.