City of Whitehall - Warner Avenue - Benston to Slocum

Work completed so far:

• New water main passed all tested and was tied into the existing water system at Slocum, Sophia and Alice Street

What to expect week of April 29, 2024:

• Water Services will be tied over to the new water main between Alice and Slocum
• The final water main connection at Alice and Warner will be made which will require a shut down of the existing water main on Alice between Warner and Baldwin
• Begin new water main installation between Muskegon Avenue and Benston Street on the east side of Warner Street

What to expect week of May 5, 2024:

• Continue water main installation on the east side of Warner Street south of Muskegon Avenue to Benston Street

Please note: When water is shut off for water main connections – the water is safe to drink!  However, it may be discolored after water is restored.  This is due to rust in the old water system or from internal plumbing pipes getting dislodged and entering the water.  To flush any discolored water, it is recommended to flush COLD water from a bath tub or outside spigot – any tap that does not have an aerator that may trap any particles.  It is also a good idea to remove and clean aerators periodically, especially after nearby water main construction.  If the water is cloudy, this is due to air in the line and it will return to normal after a few minutes.

The weather is a bit brisk, but the construction on Warner is beginning!

I wanted to provide a quick update to the progress of the project to keep you all aware of what to expect.

Work completed so far:

• Removal limits of pavement, curb, sidewalk, driveway approaches, trees, etc have been marked out
• Trees trimmed
• Many trees cut and/or removed

What to expect later THIS WEEK:

• Sidewalk and curb removals in areas of proposed water main on the east side of Warner Street between Alice and Slocum
• Mailboxes on the east side of Warner between Alice and Slocum will be TEMPORARILY relocated to the west side of the road
• Warner Street will be CLOSED TO THRU TRAFFIC between Alice and Slocum starting TOMORROW, March 20, 2024.  Residents will still have access to and from their homes.  Deliveries and mail service will still remain.  We will discourage people from driving THROUGH the construction zone.  Please use Lewis Street, Mears Avenue and Spring Street to get around the construction site.
• Remainder of trees to be trimmed or removed between Lewis and Benston for the water main construction will be completed

What to expect week of March 25, 2024:

• Water main construction on east side of Warner Street between Alice and Slocum. This work will take approximately a month to complete.
• Residents will be notified a minimum of 24 hours in advance prior to planned disruptions of drinking water which will likely be a few weeks from now.

Construction activity on Warner Street will begin on the week of March 18, with some tree removals and tree trimming where the proposed water main will be going in the city-owned right-of-way.  You will see crews marking items now.  We do know that trees are precious for shade, cooling, beauty and many other beneficial items.  However, we did do our best to try to design the new water main to avoid as many trees as we could and we will try to disturb as few as we can, but there is limited space in the road right-of-way with today’s required spacing to keep drinking water infrastructure a safe distance away from sewer (both storm and sanitary) infrastructure.  Additionally, we have to keep it away from other utilities such as gas, phone, cable and electric that are all in the shared space of our public road right of ways.

Here is what we are planning for this project:

Full water main and water service replacement from Benston Street to Muskegon Avenue and also between Alice and Slocum Streets.  The section between Muskegon Avenue and Alice had already been replaced in the last 20 years.  For the most part, the water main will be on the east side of the road, but it will cross near Muskegon Avenue and near Slocum to make connections.  We will also replace a portion of the water main to the west on Muskegon Avenue for about 200-feet.  This work will be done first.

Once all the water main work is complete, the Warner Street road surface will be ground up (milled) and repaved from Benston to Slocum – including both intersections.

Tentative schedule is as follows (weather permitting):

March 18 – April 2, 2024 – Tree trimming, tree removals, east edge pavement removals, driveway approach removals (east side – will replace with gravel for access)

April 2 – Mid July 2024 – Water main installation. This will be done in phases because the water main needs to be installed, tested and approved before it can be put into service. This must be done in sections. Water services will be replaced all the way into the home if they are galvanized steel connected to a lead gooseneck–residents in this situation have been notified. Otherwise, most residents will be merely reconnected to the new water main once it is installed.  There will be water service disruptions during these phases that may last up to 2-4 hours, and notices will be delivered ahead of time.

* In July, the intersection of Benston and Warner WILL BE CLOSED – We understand this will be a major disruption with traffic coming and going to businesses and Howmet, but it is unavoidable with the amount of water main infrastructure work that needs to take place in the intersection. The closure will likely last 2-3 weeks and a detour will be set up to White Lake Road.

Mid July to Mid August – Repaving and restriping of Warner Street.  The target reopen to traffic date is before August 17, 2024.