Trucks delivering roof panels to Lift Station 87 will occasionally impede traffic on Mound Street at Luke Wood Park throughout the day on today, Thursday, April 23. Flatbed semi-trailers will be delivering precast, hollow-core concrete roof panels to the Lift Station 87 site. Flaggers will direct traffic as each truck arrives, so they can safely back into the site and offload the panels, which range in size from 30 to 48 feet long. Motorists are urged to use caution and be prepared to stop while driving in the area. As the new lift station nears completion, the contractor’s work schedule proposes the closure of Osprey Avenue beginning May 26, 2020, from just north of Hudson Bayou to Alta Vista Street. The closure will allow crews to replace water and sewer pipelines as well as install new manholes and valves at the intersection of Osprey Avenue and Lincoln Drive. Once that is completed, crews will excavate and install gravity sewer mains along Alta Vista, Pomelo Avenue and Pomelo Place. The partial closure of Osprey Avenue will continue through March 2021 to facilitate the water and sewer utility work in the area.

Variable message boards will be placed in the area next week to inform motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Traffic will be directed to Mound Street/US 41 to avoid neighborhoods. The city will use temporary speed bumps to deter traffic from taking shortcuts through neighborhoods and signage to clearly identify business access on Osprey Avenue. When complete, Lift Station 87 will handle a third of the City’s wastewater flow, and the new design ensures reliable and effective operations, even during a Category 3 hurricane. Lift Station 87 will replace Lift Station 7, located at 935 Pomelo Avenue. The project is being built in phases to protect the city’s investment. Phase 1 (Microtunnels under Hudson Bayou, Osprey Avenue and Luke Wood Park) was successfully completed in June 2017. Phase 2 (Lift station 87 wetwell, building and site landscaping) is scheduled for final completion in early fall 2020. Phase 3 (Open cut gravity sewer pipeline construction south of Hudson Bayou and demolition of Lift Station 7), is scheduled to begin in summer 2020 with completion anticipated early in 2021. Once the entire project is completed, wastewater flow will be completely and permanently redirected from Lift Station 7 to Lift Station 87.

Click for more information about the Lift Station 87 project or call the project information line at 941-356-8071.