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Construction Updates

Important Information

Water main construction has started on Martin Street and will begin on Lulu around March 11. Work along West Main Street will begin around March 18 with some lane closures on West Main.

Progress Report:

On February 12, 2024, the Plainfield Charter Township Board of Trustees awarded the transmission main construction contract to Dykema Excavators of Grand Rapids, MI. Dykema Excavators intends to start construction activities on site on Monday, March 18, 2024. The transmission main will be built from the south end at Brewer Avenue and construction will progress north up to Kuttshill Drive. Prior to construction, trees within the public road rights-of-way will be cleared as necessary for water main construction. If you would like to keep the wood generated from the tree clearing along your property, please reach out to one of the project contacts to the left.

In the coming weeks, you will begin to see flags marking existing underground utilities, construction stakes, water main materials, and equipment show up along the project route.

Construction is anticipated to be complete by mid-May.

If you have any questions about construction or the potential impacts it may have on you, please contact Jeremy Kamp at (616) 432-6709.

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.

Construction of this project will begin next week, March 11. Primary focus for the first week will be mobilization of equipment, removal of the roadway of Edgewater between Thompson and Wilcox, and installation of a boring pit on Thompson at the alley between Walnut and Cherry Streets. The intersection of Thompson and Edgewater will be closed and access to the neighborhood will be from Waterworks Road for the foreseeable future.

Due to the high water table in this area, the contractor will be installing wells and pumps to temporarily lower the water table to allow installation of the piping. These will be running at all times of the day and night. Please be aware of these systems when you are in the area.

Residents living on Edgewater between Thompson and Wilcox will have access restored each night to their drives; however, access during the day may be limited at times due to the construction. Roadside parking on Wilcox will be available.

Gravity Sewer Construction

Gravity sewer installation between the new lift station site and Pipestone Road is nearly complete. No work within Pipestone Rd will occur until the spring.

Gravity sewer installation in the field near the Hampton Inn has resumed in the last week. Construction in the field will continue through to the end of the week.

Due to the warmer than usual weather, construction on this project will resume next week. Starting on Monday March 4 crews will begin removals on Center Street with pipe installation beginning mid-week. Work on Center Street is expected to be wrapped up by the end of May.

A few reminders:

  • This is an active construction site, please be aware of the equipment and excavations in the area.
  • Please have your trash can placed at the edge of the maintained road the evening before pickup.
  • Temporary mailboxes have been placed at designated locations.

 

Start dates for construction on West Street is unknown at this time, but is expected to be sometime in April.

Progress Report: On January 22, 2024, the Plainfield Charter Township Board of Trustees awarded the water main construction contract to CL Trucking & Excavating of Ionia, MI. CL Trucking & Excavating recently informed us that they intend to start construction activities on site on Monday, March 11, 2024. CL Trucking & Excavating will construct the water main along the road and new water services up to the public right-of-way line, where they will be connected to the existing water service. Prior to the water main being installed, trees within the public road rights-of-way will be cleared as necessary. Water main installation may impact portions of the road and driveway approaches and will be replaced as part of the project. Topsoil and grass seed will be placed in disturbed areas after water main construction. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to water the new grass seed to promote growth. Water main work is anticipated to be complete by early June.

Upcoming Work: You will begin to see colored flags show up in your lawn marking the location of buried utility lines. Additionally, Prein&Newhof surveyors will be placing construction stakes for water main construction. It is critical that these flags and stakes remain in place, otherwise, it could cause delays in the project completion. The new water main will not be installed at the location the stakes are installed. There is typically an offset of 10-15 feet from the stake to the water main.

Extra Notes: If you have any questions regarding construction please reach out to one of the project contacts in the panel to the left.

There is a public meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in the cafeteria room of Hillside Middle School from 6-8pm. The school is located at 1941 Alamo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49006.

Project representatives will be there to go through the project scope and schedule as well as answer questions you may have. If you cannot attend, we have also set up a project email for you to send in questions you may have: kaltwpwater23@gmail.com

Tree clearing along Kinney Avenue and at the detention basin site has been completed as of yesterday (Thursday). Integrity Tree Services may come back prior to beginning road reconstruction (scheduled for April 29) to finish stump grinding.

As soon as next week, Kent Power is scheduled to begin replacing the existing gas main on Kinney Avenue with a new 8-inch diameter gas main along the west side of the roadway. New gas services will be installed to all affected properties. DTE will be reaching out to residents to schedule the transfer from their old gas service to the new one. Single lane closures along Kinney may be utilized by Kent Power, however two-way traffic will be maintained at all times. The gas main replacement is anticipated to be completed by the end of April.

Below are some photos of Kinney Avenue prior to construction. We can’t wait to see how the neighborhood improves this fall!

The underground piping around the filter building has been installed.

Upcoming Schedule:

  • Construction of the outlet will continue, weather permitting.
  • The floor drain and sump installation will be finished in the filter building.
  • Planning to install the Crooked Pump Station wet well in the next few weeks.